tihvavy  of  Che  t:heolo0ical  ^emmar;!P 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


PURCHASED  BY  THE 
HAMILL  MISSIONARY  FUND 

BV  2060  ,MS4  1905 

Mott,  John  Raleigh,  1865- 

1955 
The  evangelization  of  the 

world  in  this  generation 


THE  EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  WORLD 
IN  THIS  GENERATION 


THE  EVANGELIZATION  OF 

THE  WORLD  IN  THIS 

GENERATION 


BY 


JOHN   R    MOTT 


^ 


:^  cfTs;^ 


-^♦. 


*     APR    8   190 


'^Sic, 


4L  SU^v 


NEW   YORK 

STUDENT   VOLUNTEER   MOVEMENT 

FOR    FOREIGN    MISSIONS 

1905 


COPYRIGHT,   1900,  BY 

STUDENT  VOLUNTEER  MOVEMENT 
FOR  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

I  WISH  to  acknowledge  gratefully  my  obliga- 
tion to  the  missionaries,  secretaries  of  missionary 
societies,  professors  in  colleges  and  seminaries, 
and  all  others,  who,  by  affording  information,  or 
by  giving  counsel  and  criticism,  have  helped  me 
in  the  preparation  of  this  book. 

JOHN  R.  MOTT. 

New  York,  August,  1900. 


CONTENTS 

PAGB 

I.  Definition,  or,  What  is  Meant  by  the 
Evangelization  of  the  World  in  this 
Generation 1 

II.   The  Obligation  to  Evangelize  the  World    17 

III.  Difficulties  in  the  Way  of  Evangelizing 

the  World 30 

IV.  The     Possibility    op    Evangelizing    the 

World  in  this  Generation  in  View 
of  the  Achievements  of  the  First 
Generation  of  Christians 51 

V.  The  Possibility  of  Evangelizing  the 
World  in  this  Generation  in  View  op 
Some  Modern  Missionary  Achievements    79 

VI.  The  Possibility  of  Evangelizing  the 
World  in  this  Generation  in  View  of 
THE  Opportunities.  Facilities  and  Re- 
sources OF  THE  Church 104 

VII.  The  Possibility  of  Evangelizing  the 
World  within  a  Generation  as  Viewed 
by  Leaders  in  the  Church 132 

VIII.   Factors  Essential  to  the  Evangelization 

OF  THE  World  in  this  Generation  .    .160 

IX.   The    Evangelization    of    the    World    in 

this  Generation  as  a  Watchword  .    .196 

Bibliography 211 

Analytical  Index 235 


DEFINITION,  OR,  WHAT  IS  MEANT  BY  THE 
EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  WORLD  IN  THIS 
GENERATION 

The  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth  century 
have  witnessed  in  all  parts  of  Protestant  Chris- 
tendom an  unprecedented  development  of  mis- 
sionary life  and  activity  among  young  men  and 
young  women.  A  remarkable  manifestation  of 
this  interest  in  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  has  been  among  students.  The  Student 
Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Missions,  taking 
its  rise  at  a  conference  of  American  and  Canadian 
students  in  1886,  has  spread  from  land  to  land, 
until  it  has  now  assumed  an  organized  form  in  all 
Protestant  countries.  It  has  been  transplanted 
even  to  the  colleges  of  mission  lands,  so  that  to- 
day ^-he  Christian  students  of  the  Occident  and 
the  Orient,  of  the  Northern  and  the  Southern 
Hemispheres,  are  united  in  the  sublime  purpose 
of  enthroning  Jesus  Christ  as  King  among  all 
nations  and  races  of  men.  The  reality  of  their 
consecration  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  during  the 
1 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOKLD 

past  decade  over  two  tliousand  of  them,  after 
completing  a  thorongli  college  or  university  prep- 
aration, have  gone  out  from  North  America  and 
Europe  under  the  regular  missionary  societies  of 
the  Church  to  work  in  non-Christian  lands.  A 
still  larger  number  are  equipping  themselves  for 
similar  service  abroad. 

In  several  countries,  notably  in  the  United 
States,  Canada,  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  the 
members  of  this  Movement  have  adopted  as  their 
watchword.  The  Evangelization  of  the  World  in 
this  Generation.  A  great  number  of  their  fellow- 
students  who,  although  not  volunteers  for  foreign 
missions,  recognize  their  equal  burden  of  respon- 
sibility for  the  world's  evangelization,  have  taken 
the  same  watchword  as  a  molding  influence  in 
their  life  plans.  The  idea  is  taking  strong  hold, 
also,  on  a  multitude  of  other  men  and  women. 
Eminent  leaders  of  the  various  branches  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  both  in  Christian  lands  and  on 
the  mission  field,  have  endorsed  the  Watchword 
and  have  urged  the  desirability  of  its  adoption  by 
all  Christians  as  expressive  of  an  inspiring  idoal  as 
well  as  of  a  primary  and  urgent  duty. 

A  watchword  which  has  in  so  brief  a  time 
gained  a  powerful  hold  on  the  minds  of  the  future 
leaders  of  thought,  and  which  is  already  begin- 

2  I 


DEFINITION 

ning  to  make  itself  felt  in  the  Chnrch,  is  mani- 
festly worthy  of  careful  consideration.  In  such  a 
consideration  it  is  important  that  we  clearly  un- 
derstand at  the  ontset  what  is  meant  by  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world  in  this  generation.  It 
means  to  give  all  men  an  adequate  opportunity  to 
know  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Saviour  and  to  become 
His  real  disciples.  This  involves  such  a  distri- 
bution of  missionary  agencies  as  will  make  the 
knowledge  of  the  Gospel  accessible  to  all  men.  It 
would  seem  that  Christ  logically  implied  this 
when  He  commanded  His  followers,  ^'  Go  ye  into 
all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  whole 
creation  ;'^^  when  He  told  them  to  '^make  dis- 
ciples of  all  the  nations  ;^^^  when  He  enjoined 
upon  them  ^'  that  repentance  and  remission  of 
sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name  unto  all  the 
nations,  beginning  from  Jerusalem  ;^^^  and  when 
He  said  unto  them,  "  Ye  shall  be  my  witnesses 
both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judaea  and  Sa- 
maria, and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the 
earth. •''^  Obviously  this  does  not  express  all; 
that  He  in  His  final  charges  has  given  us  to 
do ;  but  it  does  define  the  first  and  most  im- 
portant part  of   our  missionary  obligation, — first 

'  St.  Mark  xvi.  15.  ^  gt    ^att.  xxviii.   19. 

^St.  Luke  xxiY.  47.  *  Acts  i.  8. 

3 


THE  EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

because  knowledge  of  Christ  precedes  accept- 
ance of  Him,  and  most  important  because  on  a 
knowledge  of  Christ  depends  all  else  involved  in 
the  Great  Commission. 

The  Gospel  which  is  to  be  preached  to  every 
creature  is  the  Gospel  which  St.  Paul  and  the 
other  early  Christians  preached.  Its  main  out- 
lines are  set  forth  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  the 
first  letter  to  the  Corinthians,  in  which  St.  Paul 
sums  up  the  Gospel  which  he  had  preached  to 
them  :  '*  I  delivered  unto  you  first  of  all  that 
which  I  also  received,  how  that  Christ  died  for 
our  sins  according  to  the  scriptures  ;  and  that  He 
was  buried  ;  and  that  He  hath  been  raised  on  the 
third  day  according  to  the  scriptures."^  The 
many  side-lights  on  the  preaching  of  the  Apostles 
given  in  the  Acts  and  in  the  Epistles  make  plain 
that  the  substance  and  burden  of  their  message  or 
gospel  were  the  facts  about  Jesus  Christ — His 
wonderful  life  and  works  and  teachings ;  His 
death  for  the  remission  of  sins  ;  His  resurrection 
and  ascension ;  His  constant  intercession ;  His 
sending  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  convict,  to  trans- 
form, to  guide  and  to  energize  men ;  and  the 
promise  of  His  own  return. 

What  is  it  to  preach  the  Gospel?    The  Greek 
1 1  Cor.  XV.  3, 4. 
4 


DEFINITION 

words  principally  used  in  the  New  Testament 
mean  to  proclaim  as  heralds,  or  to  transmit  good 
news.  Other  words  or  expressions  less  frequently 
used  are  to  talk  or  converse,  to  reason  or  discuss, 
to  testify  or  hear  witness,  to  teach  and  to  ex- 
hort. Examples  of  all  these  forms  of  preaching, 
or  of  communicating  a  knowledge  of  Christ  and 
His  mission  to  men,  are  to  be  found  in  the  prac- 
tice of  the  early  Church.  The  qualifications  of  the 
worker  or  speaker,  and  the  circumstances  in  which 
he  found  himself  placed,  determined  the  manner 
of  his  presentation  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ. 

So  to-day  we  find  the  missionaries  proclaiming 
and  applying  the  Gospel  in  sermons  or  addresses 
in  mission  halls;  expounding  and  discussing  the 
truth  in  bazars,  inns  and  street  chapels  ;  convers- 
ing about  Christ  as  they  visit  from  house  to  house 
and  as  they  mingle  with  the  people  socially  at 
feasts  and  public  gatherings ;  teaching  the  system 
of  Christian  doctrine  in  schools  and  colleges  ;  cir- 
culating the  printed  Scriptures  and  other  Christian 
literature ;  illustrating  the  Gospel  by  Christ-like 
ministry  to  the  body,  and  by  the  powerful  object 
lessons  of  the  consistent  Christian  life  and  of  the 
well-ordered  Christian  home ;  and  ever  pressing 
the  claims  of  Christ  upon  individuals  as  they  are 
met  within  the  sphere  of  one's  daily  calling.  In 
d 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

all  these  and  in  .  other  ways  the  Cliristian  worker 
by  voice  and  by  life,  by  pen  and  by  printed  page, 
in  season  and  out  of  season,  seeks  to  set  forth  those 
facts  about  Christ  which  in  all  lands  have  been 
found  to  be  the  power  of  God  unto  the  salvation 
of  every  man  that  believeth. 

The  Gospel  must  be  preached  in  such  a  manner 
as  will  constitute  an  intelligent  and  intelligible 
presentation  of  the  message.  This  necessitates 
on  the  part  of  the  preacher  such  a  knowledge  of 
the  language,  the  habits  of  thought  and  the  moral 
condition  of  those  who  are  to  be  evangelized  as 
will  enable  them  to  understand  what  is  said.  Above 
all  it  involves  the  accompanying  power  and  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

If  the  Gospel  is  to  be  preached  to  all  men  it  ob- 
viously must  be  done  while  they  are  living.  The 
evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  generation, 
therefore,  means  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to 
those  who  are  now  living.  To  us  who  are  respon- 
sible for  preaching  the  Gospel  it  means  in  our 
life-time ;  to  those  to  whom  it  is  to  be  preached 
it  means  in  their  life-time.  The  unevangelized  for 
whom  we  as  Christians  are  responsible  live  in  this 
generation  ;  and  the  Christians  whose  duty  it  is  to 
present  Christ  to  them  live  in  this  generation.  The 
phrase  "in  this  generation,''  therefore,  strictly 
6 


DEFINITION" 

speaking  has  a  different  meaning  for  each  persoru 
In  the  last  analysis,  if  the  world  is  to  be  evangel- 
ized in  this  or  any  generation  it  will  be  because 
a  sufficient  number  of  individual  Christians  recog- 
nize and  assume  their  personal  obligation  to  the 
undertaking. 

To  consider  negatively  the  meaning  of  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world  in  this  generation  may 
serve  to  prevent  some  misconceptions.  It  does  not 
mean  the  conversion  of  the  world  within  the  gen- 
eration. Our  part  consists  in  bringing  the  Gospel 
to  bear  on  unsaved  men.  The  results  are  with 
the  men  whom  we  would  reach  and  with  the  Spirit 
of  God.  We  have  no  warrant  for  believing  that 
all  who  have  the  Gospel  preached  unto  them  will 
accept  it.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  we  have  a 
right  to  expect  that  the  faithful  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  will  be  attended  with  conversions.  We 
should  not  present  Christ  in  an  aimless  and  unex- 
pectant  manner,  but  with  the  definite  purpose  of 
influencing  those  who  hear  us  to  believe  on  Him 
and  become  His  disciples.  Like  St.  Paul  at  Thes- 
salonica,  we  should  preach  the  Gospel  "  in  much 
assurance.^'  ^  We  are  not  responsible  for  the  re- 
sults of  our  work,  however,  but  for  our  fidelity  and 
thoroughness. 

1 1  Thess.  1.  5. 

7 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE    WORLD 

It  does  not  imply  the  hasty  or  superficial  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel.  Professor  Warneck  wisely 
emphasizes  the  truth  that  the  "  rejection  [of  the 
Gospel]  can  be  made  only  with  knowledge,  and 
that  this  can  be  the  case  only  when  the  announ- 
cing has  been  completely  understood."^  The  de- 
liverance of  the  message  must  be  effective,  as  law- 
yers would  say,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  hearer 
as  well  as  of  the  speaker.  This  is  necessary  in  order 
that  the  hearer  may  have  full  responsibility  for  his 
choice.  So  the  work  of  evangelization  is  not  an 
easy  task.  At  rare  times  it  may  be  accomplished 
by  proclaiming  the  message  once  or  twice  ;  it  may 
necessitate,  however,  not  only  frequent  repetition 
of  the  facts  about  Christ  but  also  long  and  patient 
instruction.  The  missionary  must  reckon  with  and 
surmount  difficulties  incident  to  language,  age, 
grade  of  intelligence,  heredity  and  environment. 
If  the  enterprise  of  world  evangelization  calls  for 
urgent  and  aggressive  action,  with  equal  emphasis 
it  calls  for  perseverance  and  thoroughness.  It  is 
maintained  that  the  idea  of  the  evangelization  of 
the  world  in  this  generation  does  not  do  violence 
to  such  a  conception  of  the  proclamation  of  the 
Gospel. 

»  »*Die  moderne  Welterangelisations-Theorie."  Allgc 
meine  Missions-Zeitschrift.     Vol.  XXIV.,  315. 

8 


DEFINITION 

It  does  not  signify  the  Christianization  of  the 
world,  if  by  that  is  meant  the  permeating  of  the 
world  with  Christian  ideas  and  the  dominance  of 
the  principles  of  Christian  civilization  in  all  parts 
of  the  world.  If  we  may  judge  by  history,  that 
would  require  centuries.  Of  what  country  to-day 
can  it  be  said  that  it  is  governed  by  the  principles 
of  Jesus  Christ  ? 

It  does  not  involve  the  entertaining  or  support- 
ing of  any  special  theory  of  eschatology.  For  ex- 
ample, the  holding  of  this  idea  does  not,  as  some 
have  assumed,  necessitate  a  belief  in  the  premillen- 
nial  view  of  the  coming  of  Christ.  Nor  does  it 
stand  in  the  service  of  any  other  particular  theory 
of  eschatology.  Men  entertaining  widely  different 
opinions  as  to  the  second  advent  of  Christ  accept 
alike  this  view  of  world-wide  evangelization. 
Moreover,  in  advocating  the  evangelization  of 
the  world  in  this  generation  a  limit  is  not  set 
within  which  God  is  to  accomplish  any  given 
part  of  His  purpose  for  the  world.  A  period 
is  described,  however,  in  which  Christians  should 
discharge  their  responsibility  toward  an  unevan- 
gelized  world. 

It  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  prophecy.  Stress 
is  placed  on  what  may  be  done  and  ought  to  be 
done,  not  on  what  is  actually  to  occur.  Is  it  not 
9 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF   THE    WORLD 

possible  thus  to  urge  a  duty  without  venturing  a 
prediction  ? 

It  does  not  minimize,  but  rather  emphasizes,  the 
importance  of  the  regular  forms  of  missionary 
work.  A  clearer  understanding  of  the  subject  will 
be  gained  by  considering  the  relation  of  the  princi- 
pal methods  of  missionary  work  to  the  enterprise  of 
world-wide  evangelization.  These  are  educational, 
literary,  medical  and  evangelistic.  These  methods 
must  not  be  regarded  as  antagonistic  to  one  anoth- 
er. On  the  contrary,  where  their  true  relationship 
is  recognized  and  maintained,  they  support  and 
strengthen  each  other.  Each  is  indispensable  to 
the  common  object  of  world  evangelization.  ^*  The 
evangelistic  method,"  as  Dr.  James  S.  Dennis  has 
observed,  "  must  not  be  regarded  as  monopolizing 
the  evangelistic  aim,  which  should  itself  pervade 
all  the  other  methods."  ^  In  a  non-Christian  land 
everything  which  manifests  the  spirit  of  Christ  is 
in  an  important  sense  evangelistic.  Every  method 
should  be  employed  which  makes  the  Gospel  intel- 
ligible and  acceptable  to  men. 

The  various  means  of  carrying  on  missionary 
work  are  well  summarized  in  the  words  of  the  reso- 
lution framed  and  introduced  by  Alexander  Duff 
at  the  Union  Missionary  Convention  held  in  New 
*  "  Foreign  Missions  after  a  Century,"  228. 
10 


DEFINITION 

York  in  1854,  and  unanimously  adopted  by  the 
delegates  : 

*' Resolved,  As  the  general  sense  of  this  Conven- 
tion, that  the  chief  means  of  divine  appointment 
for  the  evangelization  of  the  world  are — the  faith- 
ful teaching  and  preaching  of  the  pure  gospel  of 
salvation  by  duly  qualified  ministers  and  other 
holy  and  consistent  disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ — accompanied  with  prayer  and  savingly 
applied  by  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  such 
means,  in  the  providential  application  of  them  by 
human  agency,  embracing  not  merely  instruction 
by  the  living  voice,  but  the  translation  and  ju- 
dicious circulation  of  the  whole  written  word  of 
God — the  preparation  and  circulation  of  evan- 
gelical tracts  and  books — as  well  as  any  other 
instrumentalities  fitted  to  bring  the  word  of 
God  home  to  men's  souls — together  with  any  proc- 
esses which  experience  may  have  sanctioned  as  the 
most  efficient  in  raising  up  everywhere  indigenous 
ministers  and  teachers  of  the  living  Gospel."^ 

Educational  work  sustains  a  vital  relation  to 
that  of  evangelization.  In  some  parts  of  the 
world  more  people  have  been  led  to  accept  Christ 
through  educational  missionary  effort  than  through 
any  other  agency.     George  Bowen  maintained  that 

*  "Proceedings  of  the  Union  Missionary  Convention, "  15. 
U 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

a  majority  of  all  converts  in  Western  India  were 
the  result  of  educational  work.^  Mission  schools 
have  been  the  most  successful  agency  in  reaching 
certain  classes,  for  example,  the  higher  castes  in 
India.  One  of  the  few  ways  of  bringing  a  knowl- 
edge of  Christ  to  Mohammedans,  as  in  Egypt  and 
India,  has  been  through  education.  This  also  has 
been  one  of  the  chief  forces  in  opening  the  zenanas 
to  women  missionaries.  In  Japan,  mission  schools 
proved  to  be  as  much  an  entering  wedge  as  did 
medical  work  in  China.  Education  has  done  more 
than  any  other  agency  to  undermine  heathen  su- 
perstitions and  false  systems  of  belief,  thus  facili- 
tating the  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel  by  remov- 
ing false  ideas  which  already  had  possession  of  the 
mind.  It  would  be  a  calamity  to  the  missionary 
enterprise  to  leave  the  mighty  weapon  of  education 
to  be  wielded  alone  by  agencies  hostile  to  the 
spread  of  Christianity.  Education,  from  the  point 
of  view  of  evangelization,  is  essential  as  a  means 
for  raising  up  and  training  native  preachers  and 
teachers  and  Christian  leaders  for  all  departments 
of  life.  If  mission  schools  fail  as  an  evangelistic 
agency,  it  is  not  because  they  teach,  nor  because 

*  Paper  by  Dr.  D.  Mackichan  on  "  Education  as  a  Mission- 
ary Agency  "  in  "  Report  of  the  Third  Decennial  Missionary 
Conference"  (held  at  Bombay,  1892-93),  II.,  433. 

Id 


DEFINITION 

of  what  they  teach,  but  because  they  lose  sight  of 
the  evangelistic  aim,  or  because  they  are  not  con- 
ducted by  men  of  evangelistic  spirit. 

Literary  missionary  work  is  of  very  great  value 
in  promoting  evangelization,  both  as  a  direct  agen- 
cy and  also  as  supplementary  to  all  other  forms  of 
missionary  activity.  The  evangelization  of  a  people 
necessitates  native  evangelizing  agencies,  and  these 
cannot  be  developed  without  the  Bible.  Without 
the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  various  ver- 
naculars and  without  the  development  of  Christian 
literature  in  them,  it  would  be  impossible  to  dif- 
fuse the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  throughout  the 
world  in  a  generation.  Vernacular  Christian  litera- 
ture, especially  of  a  practical,  spiritual  and  energiz- 
ing kind,  is  also  of  great  service  both  in  spreading 
the  knowleglge  of  the  Gospel  and  in  building  up 
Christian  character. 

Medical  work  also  constitutes  a  necessary  factor 
in  the  great  work  of  evangelizing  the  world.  It 
affords  access  to  all  classes  of  people,  the  highest 
as  well  as  the  lowest.  It  disarms  hostility  and 
breaks  down  prejudices  and  barriers,  thus  making 
possible  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  in  communi- 
ties otherwise  inaccessible.  Mrs.  Isabella  Bird 
Bishop  reports  that  in  Central  Asia  she  found 
fanatical  Mohammedan  tribes  who,  when  asked 
13 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   O^    THE   WORLD 

whether  they  would  receive  a  resident  missionary, 
invariably  replied  that  they  would  do  so  if  he  were 
a  doctor.* 

Medical  missionary  work  is  an  incontrovertible 
evidence  of  Christianity  and  of  the  power  of  the 
Gospel.  The  ministry  of  healing  also  wins  the 
heart,  and  thus  gives  acceptance  and  added  mean- 
ing and  power  to  the  message  of  salvation.  Dr. 
John  Lowe,  a  leading  authority  on  this  subject, 
maintains  that  medical  work  is  ^'  one  of  the  most 
powerful,  effective,  and  directly  evangelistic  agen- 
cies which  the  Church  possesses.^'  ^  This  is  true 
where  the  pervading  and  controlling  aim  in  all  the 
work  is,  as  it  should  be,  evangelistic.  Where  this 
is  not  the  case,  it  is  a  misnomer  to  speak  of  the 
physician  as  a  medical  missionary.  The  true  medi- 
cal missionary  will  constantly  commend  the  Gospel 
to  his  patients  by  word  as  well  as  by  deed,  and  will 
be  satisfied  with  no  lower  aim  than  that  of  win- 
ning them  to  Christ. 

Notwithstanding  the  value  of  other  methods, 
the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel  by  the  living  voice 
will  always  hold  the  pre-eminent  place.  The 
Bpoken  Gospel  is  absolutely  essential  to  the  propa- 

*  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer^  April,  1892,  pp.  256, 257. 

*  "  Report  of  the  Centenary  Conference  on  the  Protestant 
Missions  of  the  World"  (held  at  London  in  1888),  II.,  106. 

14 


DEFINITION 

gation  of  the  Christian  faith.  The  command  is, 
''  Preach  the  gospel."  ^  ^^  It  was  God's  good  pleasure 
through  the  foolishness  of  the  preaching  to  save 
them  that  believe/'  ^  ''  Whosoever  shall  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.  How  then 
shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom  they  have  not  be- 
lieved ?  and  how  shall  they  believe  in  him  whom 
they  have  not  heard  ?  and  how  shall  they  hear 
without  a  preacher?" 3  The  value  of  medical, 
educational,  literary  and  all  other  forms  of  mis- 
sionary activity,  is  measured  by  the  extent  to 
which  they  prepare  the  way  for  the  Gospel  message, 
promote  its  acceptance,  manifest  its  spirit  and 
benefits,  multiply  points  of  contact  with  human 
souls,  and  increase  the  number  and  efficiency  of 
those  who  preach  Christ.  The  preaching  of  the 
crucified  and  risen  Saviour  always  has  been  and 
always  will  be  the  power  of  God — the  most  effective 
means  of  leading  men  into  everlasting  life. 

The  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  genera- 
tion should  not  be  regarded  as  an  end  in  itself. 
The  Church  will  not  have  fulfilled  her  task  when 
the  Gospel  has  been  preached  to  all  men.  Such 
evangelization  must  be  followed  by  the  baptism  of 
converts,  by  their  organization  into  churches,  by 
building  them  up  in  knowledge,  faith  and  charac- 

1  St.  Mark  xvi.  15.       ^  i  Cor.  i.  21.     ^  Rom.  x.  13,  14. 

15  / 


THE  EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

ter,  and  by  enlisting  and  training  tliem  for  service. 
"While  the  missionary  enterprise  should  not  be 
diverted  from  the  immediate  and  controlling  aim 
of  preaching  the  Gospel  where  Christ  has  not  been 
named,  and  while  this  work  should  have  the  right 
of  way  as  the  most  urgent  part  of  our  task,  it  must 
ever  be  looked  upon  as  but  a  means  to  the  mighty 
and  inspiring  object  of  enthroning  Christ  in  indi- 
vidual life,  in  family  life,  in  social  life,  in  national 
life,  in  international  relations,  in  every  relation- 
ship of  mankind  ;  and,  to  this  end,  of  planting  and 
developing  in  all  non-Christian  lands  self-support- 
ing, self-directing  and  self-propagating  churches 
which  shall  become  so  thoroughly  rooted  in  the 
convictions  and  hearts  of  the  people  that  if 
Christianity  were  to  die  out  in  Europe  and 
America,  it  would  abide  in  purity  and  as  a  mis- 
sionary power  in  its  new  homes  and  would  live  on 
through  the  centuries. 


la 


II 

THE    OBLIGATION    TO    EVANGELIZE    THE 
WORLD 

It  is  our  duty  to  evangelize  the  luorld  because  all 
men  7ieed  Christ, 

The  Christian  Scriptures  and  the  careful  and 
extended  observation  of  earnest  men  the  world 
over  agree  that  with  respect  to  the  need  of  salva- 
tion all  nations  and  races  are  alike.  The  need  of 
the  non-Christian  world  is  indescribably  great. 
Hundreds  of  millions  are  to-day  living  in  igno- 
rance and  darkness,  steeped  in  idolatry,  supersti- 
tion, degradation  and  corruption.  Eeflect  on  the 
desolating  and  cruel  evils  which  are  making  such 
fearful  ravages  among  them.  See  under  what  a 
burden  of  sin  and  sorrow  and  suffering  they  live. 
Can  any  candid  person  doubt  the  reality  of  the 
awful  need  after  reviewing  the  masterly,  scientific 
survey  by  Dr.  Dennis  of  the  social  evils  of  the 
non-Christian  world  ?  ^  'No  one  who  has  seen 
the  actual  conditions  can  question  that  they  who 
are  without  God  are  also  without  hope. 

*  See  "  Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress,"  Vol  L 
17 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOULD 

The  non-Christian  religions  may  be  judged  by 
their  fruits.  While  they  furnish  some  moral  prin- 
ciples and  precepts  of  value,  they  do  not  afford 
adequate  standards  and  motives  by  which  rightly 
to  guide  the  life,  nor  power  to  enable  one  to  take 
the  step  between  knowing  duty  and  doing  it. 
Though  there  are  among  the  followers  of  these 
religions  men  of  high  and  noble  lives,  in  the  sight 
of  God  all  have  sinned  and  stand  in  need  of  the 
Divine  forgiveness  and  of  Christ  the  Saviour.  All 
other  religions  have  failed  to  do  what  Christianity 
has  done  and  is  doing  as  a  regenerating  power  in 
the  individual  and  as  a  transforming  force  in  so- 
ciety. It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  thousands 
of  missionaries  scattered  throughout  the  world, 
face  to  face  with  heathenism  and  thus  in  the  best 
position  to  make  a  scientific  study  of  the  problem, 
bear  such  a  unanimous  testimony  as  to  the  practi- 
cal results  of  the  non-Christian  religions  as  should 
forever  banish  any  doubt  or  reservation  regarding 
their  inadequacy  to  meet  the  world's  need. 

The  Scriptures  clearly  teach  that  if  men  are  to 
be  saved  they  must  be  saved  through  Christ.  He 
alone  can  deliver  them  from  the  power  of  sin  and 
its  penalty.  His  death  made  salvation  possible. 
The  Word  of  God  sets  forth  the  conditions  of  sal- 
vation. God  has  chosen  to  have  these  conditions 
18 


THE    OBLIGATION 

made  known  through  human  agency.  The  universal 
capability  of  men  to  be  benefited  by  the  Gospel, 
and  the  ability  of  Christ  to  satisfy  men  of  all  races 
and  conditions,  emphasize  the  duty  of  Christiana 
to  preach  Christ  to  every  creature.  The  burning 
question  for  every  Christian  then  is,  Shall  hun- 
dreds of  millions  of  men  now  living,  who  need 
Christ  and  are  capable  of  receiving  help  from  Him, 
pass  away  without  having  even  the  opportunity  to 
know  Him  ? 

It  is  not  necessary  that  we  go  to  the  Scriptures, 
or  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  to  discover  our  obliga- 
tion to  the  unevangelized.  A  knowledge  of  our 
own  hearts  should  be  sufficient  to  make  plain  our 
duty.  We  know  our  need  of  Christ.  How  un- 
reasonable, therefore,  for  us  to  assume  that  the 
nations  living  in  sin  and  wretchedness  and  bond- 
age can  do  without  Him  whom  we  so  much  need 
even  in  the  most  favored  Christian  lands. 

It  is  our  duty  to  evangelize  the  world  because  we 

oiue  all  men  the  Gospel. 

We  have  a  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  to 

have  this  is  to  incur  a  responsibility  toward  every 

man  who  has  it  not.     To  have  a  Saviour  who  alone 

can  save  from  the  guilt  and  power  of  sin  imposes 

an  obligation  of  the  most  serious  character.     We 

19 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOKLD 

received  the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  from  others, 
but  not  in  order  to  appropriate  it  for  our  own  ex- 
clusive use.  It  concerns  all  men.  Christ  tasted 
death  for  every  man.  He  wishes  the  good  news 
of  His  salvation  made  known  to  every  creature. 
All  nations  and  races  are  one  in  God^s  intention, 
and  therefore  equally  entitled  to  the  Gospel.  The 
Christians  of  to-day  are  simply  trustees  of  the 
Gospel  and  in  no  sense  sole  proprietors.  Every 
Indian,  every  Chinese,  every  South  Sea  Islander 
has  as  good  a  right  to  the  Gospel  as  anyone  else  ; 
and,  as  a  Chinese  once  said  to  Kobert  Stewart,  we 
break  the  eighth  commandment  if  we  do  not  take 
it  to  him.^  In  the  words  of  Mr.  Eugene  Stock, 
^' Bring  me  the  best  Buddhist  or  Mohammedan 
in  the  world,  the  most  virtuous,  the  most  high- 
minded,  and  I  think  that  man  has  a  right  to  hear  of 
the  tremendous  fact  that  a  Divine  Person  came  into 
the  world  to  bring  blessing  to  mankind.  Whether 
he  needs  it  or  no,  I  will  not  stop  to  argue.  I 
think  he  has  a  claim  upon  Christian  people  to  tell 
him  of  that  fact.^'  ^  What  a  wrong  against  man- 
kind to  keep  the  knowledge  of  the  mission  of 
Christ  to  men  from  two-thirds  of  the  race  ! 
Our  sense  of  obligation  must  be  intensified  when 

*  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer^  Vol.  XXI.,  254. 

*  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 

20 


THE    OBLIGATION 

we  ask  ourselves  the  question.  If  we  do  not  preach 
Christ  where  He  has  not  been  named,  who  will  ? 
'^God  has  ^committed  unto  us  the  word  of  recon- 
ciliation/ and  from  whom  shall  the  heathen  now 
living  ever  hear  that  word,  if  the  Christians  of  the 
present  day  fail  to  discharge  the  debt  ?  "  ^  We  know 
their  need  ;  we  know  the  only  remedy ;  we  have 
access  to  them  ;  we  are  able  to  go. 

The  claims  of  humanity  and  universal  brother- 
hood prompt  us  to  make  Christ  known  to  those 
who  live  in  darkness  and  in  misery.  The  Golden 
Eule  by  which  we  profess  to  live  impels  us  to  it. 
The  example  of  Christ,  who  was  moved  with  com- 
passion to  meet  even  the  bodily  hunger  of  the  mul- 
titudes, should  inspire  us  to  go  forth  with  the 
Word  of  life  to  the  millions  who  are  wandering  in 
helplessness  in  the  shadow  of  death. 

"  Give  me  Thy  heart,  O  Christ !     Thy  love  untold 
That  I  like  Thee  may  pity,  like  Thee  may  preach. 
For  round  me  spreads  on  every  side  a  waste 
Drearer  than  that  which  moved  Thy  soul  to  sadness ; 
No  ray  hath  pierced  this  immemorial  gloom ; 
And  scarce  these  darkened  toiling  myriads  taste 
Even  a  few  drops  of  fleeting  earthly  gladness, 
As  they  move  on,  slow,  silent,  to  the  tomb."  '■' 

^  "  Memorial  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Missionary  Union 
to  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Britain."  The  Student  Volunteer  (of 
Great  Britain),  New  Series,  No.  15,  p.  77. 

2  Dr.  Murray  Mitchell,  in  "  Report  of  the  Second  Decen- 
nial Missionary  Conference  "  (held  at  Calcutta,  1882-83),  429. 
31 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

The  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  genera- 
tion is  to  Christians  no  self-imposed  task  ;  it  rests 
securely  upon  Divine  commandment.  The  Great 
Commission  of  Christ  given  by  Him  in  the  upper 
room  in  Jerusalem  on  the  night  after  the  resur- 
rection/ again  a  little  later  on  a  mountain  in 
Galilee,^  and  yet  again,  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,^ 
just  before  the  ascension  clearly  expresses  our 
obligation  to  make  Christ  known  to  all  men. 
While  this  command  was  given  to  the  disciples  of 
Christ  living  in  the  first  generation  of  the  Chris- 
tian era,  it  was  intended  as  well  for  all  time  and 
for  each  Christian  in  his  own  time.  That  the 
command  was  not  intended  for  the  Apostles  alone 
is  seen  from  the  promise  with  which  it  is  linked, 
''  Lo  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  age."^  The  practice  of  the  Church  in  the 
Apostolic  Age  and  Sub- Apostolic  Age  shows  that 
the  command  was  regarded  as  binding  not  only 
upon  the  Apostles  but  also  upon  all  Christians. 
It  was  addressed  to  all  in  every  place  and  through- 
out every  generation  who  should  call  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  true  there  is 
no  express  command  to  evangelize  the  world  in  this 

1  St.  Mark  xvi.  15 ;    St.  Luke  xxiv.  46,  47. 

2  St.  Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20.  *  Acts  i.  8. 
4  St.  Matt,  xxviii.  20. 


THE    OBLIGATION 

generation  ;  but,  as  Mr.  Stock  has  pointed  out, 
*'If  we  have  a  general  command  to  make  the  Gos- 
pel known  to  those  who  know  it  not,  there  seems 
no  escape  from  the  conclusion  that  the  duty  to 
make  it  known  to  all — that  is,  all  now  alive — lies 
in  the  nature  of  the  case.'^  ^  Thus  the  expression, 
the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  generation, 
simply  translates  Christ's  last  command  into  terms 
of  obligation  concerning  our  own  lifetime. 

In  this  command  of  our  Lord  we  have  "  a  motive 
power  sufficient  to  impel  disciples  always  with  uni- 
form force ;  which  will  survive  romance ;  which 
will  outlive  excitement ;  which  is  independent  of 
experiences  and  emotions  ;  which  can  surmount 
every  difficulty  and  disappointment ;  which  burns 
steadily  in  the  absence  of  outward  encouragement, 
and  glows  in  a  blast  of  persecution  ;  such  a  motive 
as  in  its  intense  and  imperishable  influence  on  the 
conscience  and  heart  of  a  Christian  shall  be  irre- 
spective at  once  of  his  past  history,  of  any  pecul- 
iarities in  his  position,  and  of  his  interpretation  of 
prophecy."^  This  command  has  been  given  to  be 
obeyed.     It  is  operative  until  it  is  repealed.     The 

^  Church    Missionary    Intelligencer^    New     Series,    Vol. 
XXI.,  254. 

"^  Dr.  Ilerdman,  in  ''Proceedings  of  the  General  Confer- 
ence on  Foreign  Missions  "  (held  at  Mildmay,  1878),  99. 
23 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

execution  of  it  is  not  optional  but  obligatory.  It 
awaits  fulfilment  by  a  generation  that  shall  have 
courage  and  consecration  enough  to  attempt  the 
thing  commanded.  It  should  move  to  action  all 
real  Christians  ;  for,  in  the  words  of  Archbishop 
Whately,  *'  If  our  religion  is  not  true,  we  ought 
to  change  it ;  if  it  is  true,  we  are  bound  to  prop- 
agate what  we  believe  to  be  the  truth/'  ^  ''  Why 
call  ye  me,  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things 
which  I  say  ?  "  ^    t(  j£  y^  j^yQ  j^q  jq  ^m  j^ggp  jj^j 

commandments. "  ' 

It  is  our  duty  to  evangelize  the  world  lecause  this 
is  essential  to  the  best  life  of  the  Christian 
Church, 
If  all  men  need  the  Gospel,  if  we  owe  the  Gos- 
pel to  all  men,  if   Christ  has  commanded  us  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,  it  is  unques- 
tionably our  duty  to  give  all  people  in  our  genera- 
tion an  opportunity  to  hear  the  Gospel.     To  know 
our  duty  and  to  do  it  not  is  sin.     Continuance  in 
the  sin  of    neglect  and   disobedience  necessarily 
weakens  the  life  and  arrests  the  growth  of  the 
Church.     Who  can  measure  the  loss  of  vitality  and 
power  that  she  has  already  suffered  within  our  own 

*  "Sermons  on  Various  Subjects,"  353. 
»  St.  Luke  yi.  46.     ^  st.  John  xiv.  15* 

§4 


THE    OBLIGATION 

day  from  her  failure  to  do  all  in  her  power  for  the 
world's  evangelization?  The  Christians  of  to-day 
need  some  object  great  enough  to  engage  all  the 
powers  of  their  minds  and  hearts.  We  find  Just 
such  an  object  in  the  enterprise  to  make  Christ 
known  to  the  whole  world.  This  would  call  out 
and  utilize  the  best  energies  of  the  Church.  It 
would  help  to  save  her  from  some  of  her  gravest 
perils — ease,  selfishness,  luxury,  materialism  and 
low  ideals.  It  would  necessitate,  and  therefore 
greatly  promote,  real  Christian  unity,  thus  pre- 
venting an  immense  waste  of  force.  It  would  re- 
act favorably  on  Christian  countries.  There  is  no 
one  thing  which  would  do  so  much  to  promote 
work  on  behalf  of  the  cities  and  neglected  country 
districts  of  the  home  lands  as  a  vast  enlargement  of 
the  foreign  missionary  operations.  This  is  not  a 
matter  of  theory  ;  for  history  teaches  impressively 
that  the  missionary  epochs  have  been  the  times  of 
greatest  activity  and  spiritual  vigor  in  the  life  of 
the  home  Church.  So  the  best  spiritual  interests 
of  America,  Great  Britain,  Germany,  Australasia 
and  other  Christian  lands  are  inseparably  bound 
up  with  the  evangelization  of  the  whole  wide 
world.  The  dictates  of  patriotism,  as  well  as  of 
loyalty  to  our  Lord,  thus  call  upon  us  to  give  our- 
selves  to  the  world's  evangelization. 
25 


THE  EVANGELIZA'nON   OF   THE   WOKLD 

But  the  most  serious  and  important  considera- 
tion of  all  is  that  the  largest  manifestation  of  the 
presence  of  Christ  with  us  as  individual  Chris- 
tians, and  with  the  Church  at  large,  depends  upon 
our  obedience  to  His  command.  There  is  a  most 
intimate  and  vital  connection  between  ^'  Go  ye 
and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations,"  and  '*Lo, 
I  am  with  you  alway."  The  gift  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  associated  in  the  New  Testament  with 
spreading  the  knowledge  of  Christ.  More  than 
that,  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  be- 
stowed for  the  express  purpose  of  equipping 
Christians  for  the  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel 
unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  beginning 
from  Jerusalem.  If  the  Church  of  to-day, 
therefore,  would  have  the  power  of  God  come 
mightily  upon  her — and  is  not  this  the  great 
need  ? — she  will  necessarily  receive  it  while  in  the 
pathway  of  larger  obedience  to  the  missionary 
command. 

The  olligation  to  evangelize  the  world  is  an  ur^ 
gent  one. 
Every  reason  for  doing  this  work  of  evangeliz- 
ing at  all  demands  that  it  be  done  not  only  thor- 
oughly but  also  as  speedily  as  possible.  The 
present  generation  is  passing  away.     If  we  do  not 


THE    OBLIGATION 

evangelize  it,  who  will  ?  We  dare  not  say  the 
next  generation  will  be  soon  enough.  The 
Church  has  too  long  been  in  the  habit  of  com- 
mitting the  heathen  to  the  next  generation.  "  It 
is  not  possible  for  the  coming  generation  to  dis- 
charge the  duties  of  the  present,  whether  it  re- 
spects their  repentance,  faith,  or  works ;  and  to 
commit  to  them  our  share  of  preaching  Christ 
crucified  to  the  heathen,  is  like  committing  to 
them  the  love  due  from  us  to  God  and  our  neigh- 
bor. The  Lord  will  require  of  us  that  which  is 
committed  tons." ^ 

The  present  generation  is  one  of  unexampled 
crisis  in  all  parts  of  the  unevangelized  world. 
Missionaries  from  nearly  every  land  urge  that,  if 
the  Church  fails  to  do  her  full  duty  in  our  life- 
time, not  only  will  multitudes  of  the  present 
generation  pass  away  without  knowing  of  Christ, 
but  the  task  of  our  successors  to  evangelize  their 
generation  will  be  much  more  difficult. 

Our  generation  is  also  one  of  marvelous  oppor- 
tunity. The  world  is  better  known  and  more  ac- 
cessible, its  needs  more  articulate  and  intelligible, 
and  our  ability  to  go  into  all  the  world  with  the 

*  "  The  Duty  of  the  Present  Generation  to  Evangelize  the 
World :  An  Appeal  from  the  Missionaries  at  the  Sandwicii 
lelaiids  to  Their  Friends  in  the  United  States,"  34. 
S7 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

Gospel  is  much  greater  than  in  any  preceding 
generation.     All  this  adds  to  our  responsibility. 

The  forces  of  evil  are  not  deferring  their  opera- 
tions to  the  next  generation.  With  world-wide 
enterprise  and  with  ceaseless  vigor  they  are  seek- 
ing to  accomplish  their  deadly  work  in  this  gen- 
eration. This  is  true  not  only  of  the  dire  influences 
which  have  been  at  work  in  the  unevangelized 
nations  for  centuries,  but  also  of  those  which  have 
come  from  so-called  Christian  lands.  By  the  liquor 
traffic,  by  the  opium  trade  and  by  the  licentious 
lives  and  gambling  habits  of  some  of  our  country- 
men we  have  greatly  increased  the  misery  and  woe 
of  the  heathen.  All  non-Christian  nations  are 
being  brought  under  the  influences  of  the  material 
civilization  of  the  West,  and  these  may  easily  work 
their  injury  unless  controlled  by  the  power  of  pure 
religion.  The  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this 
generation  is  not,  therefore,  merely  a  matter  of 
buying  up  the  opportunity,  but  of  helping  to  neu- 
tralize and  supplant  the  effects  of  the  sins  of  our 
own  peoples.^ 

Because  of  the  infinite  need  of  men  without 
Christ ;  because  of  the  possibilities  of  men  of  every 
race  and  condition  who  take  Christ  as  the  Lord  of 

*  Professor  S.  Michelet,  "  Forhandlingarna  vid  det  femte 
nordisk-lutherska  missionsmdtet,"  100,  101. 
38 


THE    OBLIGATION 

their  lives ;  because  of  the  command  of  our  Lord 
which  has  acquired  added  force  as  a  result  of  nine- 
teen centuries  of  discovery,  of  opening  of  doors,  of 
experience  of  the  Christian  Cliurch  ;  because  of  the 
shameful  neglect  of  the  past  ;  because  of  the  im- 
pending crisis  and  the  urgency  of  the  situation  in 
all  parts  of  the  non-Christian  world  ;  because  of  the 
opportunity  for  a  greatly  accelerated  movement  in 
the  present ;  because  of  the  danger  of  neglecting  to 
enter  upon  a  great  onward  movement ;  because  of 
the  constraining  memories  of  the  Cross  of  Christ 
and  the  love  wherewith  He  loved  us,  it  is  the  sol- 
emn duty  of  the  Christians  of  this  generation  to 
do  their  utmost  to  evangelize  the  world. 


29 


m 

DIFFICULTIES   IN  THE  WAY  OF  EVANGELIZING 
THE  WORLD 

Difficulties  external  to  the  Church  on  the  mission 
field. 
There  are  difficnlties  incident  to  the  number 
and  distribution  of  the  nnevangelized  population 
of  the  earth.  Approximately  one  thousand  mil- 
lions of  people  are  in  non-Christian  lands.  It  is 
estimated  that  fully  three-fourths  of  them  have 
not  had,  and  to-day  do  not  have,  an  opportunity  to 
learn  of  Jesus  Christ.  Thus  the  problem  relates 
to  at  least  one-half  of  the  human  race.  It  in- 
volves a  number  of  people  equivalent  to  the  popu- 
lation of  175  Londons,  or  of  227  New  Yorks.  The 
difficulty  is  even  greater  than  this  comparison 
would  indicate  ;  for,  while  there  are  dense  masses 
of  people  in  the  cities  of  Asia  and  other  unevan- 
gelized  continents,  the  great  majority  of  the  popu- 
lation is  scattered  throughout  countless  villages. 
In  India,  for  example,  nine-tenths  of  the  popula- 
tion are  living  in  over  700,000  villages.  Accord- 
30 


DIFFICULTIES 

ing  to  some  estimates  there  are  a  million  villages 
in  China. 

The  numbers  to  be  evangelized  are  not  only  vast 
and  widely  distributed,  but  there  are  still  a  few 
lands  such  as  Tibet,  Afghanistan  and  parts  of 
Arabia  where  the  missionary  cannot  work.  Even 
in  some  countries  where  the  missionary  is  allowed, 
there  are  people  who  are  practically  inaccessible. 
This  is  true  of  a  constantly  decreasing  yet  still 
large  number  of  women  in  the  zenanas  of  India, 
in  the  harems  of  Turkey  and  Persia  and  in  other 
lands  where  women  are  kept  secluded. 
\  The  chief  political  difficulty  is  the  opposition  of 
governments  to  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel. 
This  is  the  case  principally  in  countries  where 
there  is  a  close  connection  between  the  rulers  and 
the  religious  or  ecclesiastical  leaders.  In  the  Rus- 
sian Empire  it  is  not  possible  to  teach  freely  evan- 
gelical truth.  The  Turkish  government  by  various 
restrictions  renders  it  exceedingly  hard  to  carry  on 
aggressive  work  among  Moslems.  It  is  difficult  to 
preach  in  some  places  in  the  native  states  of  India 
owing  to  the  nature  of  the  treaties.  These  exam- 
ples suggest  a  very  real  obstacle  to  the  work  of 
evangelization. 

Another  serious  hindrance  to  the  work  of  the 
missionaries  is  the  selfish  and  unjust  treatment  of 
31 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOHLB 

non-Christian  nations  and  races  by  nominally 
Christian  powers.  To  this  day  the  influence  of 
the  opium  wars  constitutes  a  barrier  to  missionary 
progress  in  China.  The  forcing  of  treaty  rights 
from  China,  the  extension  of  protectorates  over 
parts  of  Africa,  and  the  political  efforts  of  the 
Koman  Catholics  in  different  parts  of  the  world, 
have  greatly  increased  the  difficulty  of  evangelizing 
the  inhabitants  of  all  these  regions.  Such  actions 
have  aroused  antipathy  against  all  foreigners  and 
created  suspicion  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  often 
leading  them  to  regard  the  missionaries  as  political 
agents  of  the  lands  from  which  they  come.  An- 
other difficulty,  in  a  sense  political,  is  the  national 
feeling  found  in  Japan,  which  regards  the  accept- 
ance of  Christianity  as  disloyalty  to  the  Emperor. 
In  India  also  there  is  a  false  patriotism  which 
identifies  love  of  country  with  firm  adherence  to 
the  ancestral  faith. 

Missionaries  agree  that  one  of  the  most  grievous 
obstacles  to  the  spread  of  the  Christian  faith  is  the 
example  set  before  the  heathen  by  godless  trades- 
men, sailors,  soldiers,  travelers  and  other  foreign- 
ers who  frequent  their  cities.  Bad  as  has  been  the 
influence  of  the  traffic  in  opium,  liquor  and  human 
labor  carried  on  by  foreigners,  the  effect  of  their 
unscrupulous  and  dissolute  lives  is  even  worse. 
33 


BirncuLTiES 

With  these  men  living  lives  of  greed  and  vice  be- 
fore the  heathen,  in  utter  defiance  of  every  prin- 
ciple and  teaching  of  the  Christian  religion,  and 
far  outnumbering  the  missionaries,  is  it  strange 
that  it  is  hard  to  persuade  men  of  the  reality 
and  power  of  the  Gospel  which  the  missionary 
presents  ? 

The  social  difiiculties  in  the  path  of  the  mis- 
sionary are  intricate  and  obstinate.  Race  pride 
and  prejudice  meet  him  in  every  land,  making  it 
hard  to  win  the  confidence  of  the  people  and  to 
secure  a  hearing  for  the  message.  The  degraded 
and  depressed  condition  of  woman  throughout 
the  heathen  world  constitutes  a  great  social  prob- 
lem. The  fact  that  well-nigh  one-half  of  the  un- 
evangelized  are  women,  and  therefore  hedged  in 
by  various  customs  and  laws  which  make  and  keep 
them  ignorant,  superstitious  and  servile,  adds 
immensely  to  the  task  involved  in  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  w^orld. 

The  tyranny  of  custom  and  opinion  holds  most 
of  the  heathen  as  in  a  vise.  Their  customs  have 
become  to  them  second  nature,  and  their  traditions 
have  gathered  weight  through  long  centuries.  It 
requires  a  tremendous  wrench  for  them  to  break 
loose,  to  join  themselves  to  Christ  and  to  comply 
with  His  requirements.  In  every  pagan  land  and 
33 


.J 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

among  the  Jews,  to  become  a  Christian  results,  as 
a  rule,  in  social  ostracism.  Among  Moslems,  to 
take  such  a  step  even  endangers  oner's  life.  The 
restraints  of  family  and  village  organizations  in 
China  and  in  parts  of  Japan  are  very  binding. 

In  India  all  these  social  difficulties  are  summed 
tip  and  exemplified  in  the  one  word,  caste.  It 
includes  those  customs,  habits  and  ceremonies 
which  are  so  bound  up  in  the  lives  of  the  people 
as  to  present  an  almost  complete  barrier  to  inde- 
pendent action.  It  meets  the  Christian  worker 
everywhere  and  baffles  him  again  and  again.  To 
become  a  Christian  necessitates  breaking  caste. 
This  involves  giving  up  one's  occupation  or  means 
of  livelihood.  It  also  severs  his  family  and  other 
social  relationships  and  disinherits  him.  It  really 
means  to  give  up  his  little  world.  The  system  of 
caste  has  such  power  of  persecution  that  it  is 
exceedingly  difficult  to  break  from  it.  All  this 
has  a  vital  bearing  on  evangelization  ;  because 
to  evangelize  India,  as  well  as  other  countries, 
within  this  generation  will  require  a  largely  in- 
creased number  of  native  Christians. 

Not  least  among  the  hindrances  to  evangeliza- 
tion are  those  ofan  intellectual  character.  The 
fact  that  multitudes  of  the  unevangelized  cannot 
read  is  a  serious  drawback  to  the  missionary  enter- 
34 


DIFFICULTIES 

prise.  It  is  estimated  that  sixty  per  cent,  of  fhe 
people  of  Brazil  are  illiterate.  In  India  only  six 
women  in  every  thousand  can  read  ;  and  in  China 
the  proportion  is  still  smaller.  Missionaries  have 
commented  on  the  intellectual  dullness  of  many 
savage  tribes.  We  hear  much  of  the  slowness  of 
the  masses  of  China  to  receive  new  ideas.  Their 
minds  seem  to  run  in  certain  grooves  from  which  . 
it  is  difficult  to  turn  them.  The  intellectual  diffi- 
culty with  the  Hindus  is  due  largely  to  the  fact 
that  their  minds  are  occupied  with  pantheistic 
ideas  which  make  it  hard  for  them  to  grasp  even 
the  rudiments  of  the  Christian  religion.  The 
message  of  Christ,  therefore,  must  win  its  way 
in  minds  already  preoccupied  with  superstitions, 
traditions  and  false  ideas.  The  intellectual  pride 
and  conceit  of  the  scholastic  classes  of  China, 
India  and  other  lands  is,  as  everywhere,  a  high 
barrier  to  the  apprehension  of  Christian  truth. 

Linguistic  difficulties  are  closely  associated  with 
intellectual  difficulties.  Although  the  Gospel 
portions  of  the  Scriptures  have  been  translated 
into  the  chief  languages  and  dialects  of  the  world, 
there  are  yet  many  in  connection  with  which  this 
work  must  still  be  done.  It  is  a  gigantic  task  to 
furnish  in  their  own  tongues  to  all  races  of  man- 
kind the  revelation  of  God  through  the  Scriptures, 
35 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF   THE   WORLD 

bnt  it  is  indispensable  to  the  enterprise  of  evangel- 
ization. There  are  also  many  languages  still  to  be 
reduced  to  writing.  In  most  languages  of  the 
non- Christian  world  there  is  the  further  difficulty 
that  they  have  no  words  to  express  adequately  the 
meaning  of  fundamental  Christian  ideas,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  these  ideas  are  unknown  to 
heathendom. 

Greatest  among  the  external  difficulties  are 
those  of  a  religious  and  moral  character.  The  fact 
that  there  are  hundreds  of  millions  of  adherents 
of  Confucianism,  Hinduism,  Mohammedanism, 
Buddhism  and  other  non-Christian  religions,  not 
to  mention  those  of  the  corrupt  forms  of  Chris- 
tianity, suggests  the  vast  extent  of  the  religious 
problem.  It  is  an  intensive  problem  as  well.  These 
religions  have  existed  many  centuries,  and  in  some 
cases  for  millenniums.  They  have  become  deeply 
rooted  in  the  lives  of  nations  and  peoples. 

Although  breaches  are  being  made  in  the  walls 
of  the  non-Christian  religions,  they  still  manifest 
great  power  of  resistance.  The  increasing  success 
of  Christianity  in  all  parts  of  the  world  has  seemed 
to  arouse  them  to  renewed  activity  and  vigor. 
This  intensifies  the  conflict  involved  in  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world  in  this  generation. 

At  the  same  time,  the  educated  classes  through- 
36 


DIFFICULTIES 

ont  Asia  are  fast  losing  faith  in  their  old  religions 
as  the  result  of  the  study  of  Western  science  and 
philosophy.  By  having  their  confidence  shaken 
in  their  former  faiths  they  have  come  to  distrust 
all  religion.  It  is  not  easy  to  secure  from  them  a 
careful  consideration  of  the  claims  of  Christ.  In- 
fidel and  rationalistic  literature  is  widely  circu- 
lated and  read  in  India  and  Japan,  and  this  helps 
to  prejudice  further  the  minds  of  men  concerning 
Christianity. 

The  coarse  animalism  of  degraded  tribes  and 
races  affords  a  soil  most  inhospitable  to  the  Word 
of  God.  The  masses  of  the  heathen  are  indifferent 
to  spiritual  things.  They  need  Christ ;  they  are 
perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge  ;  but  they  are  not 
thirsting  to  know  Him.  They  are  so  engrossed 
with  material  things  that  it  is  hard  to  get  them  to 
heed  the  Gospel  call. 

A  fundamental  lack  throughout  the  non-Chris- 
tian and  Moslem  world  is  the  want  of  a  sense  of  sin. 
They  have  no  true  conception  of  it.  The  prevail- 
ing belief  that  they  are  in  the  hands  of  fate  tends 
to  deaden  the  feeling  of  personal  responsibility. 
Their  moral  sense  is  dull.  The  conscience  does 
not  respond  to  ordinary  appeals.  How  great  the 
task  to  get  such  people  to  feel  any  concern  about 
their  sins,  without  which  they  will  not  recognize 
37 


/ 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE    WOELD 

their  need  of  Christ  the  Saviour  !  Equally  serious 
is  the  prevailing  lack  among  them  of  the  concep- 
tion of  a  personal,  holy  God  and  a  sense  of  their 
responsibility  to  Him.  Often  it  will  require  long 
teaching  before  they  can  be  led  to  grasp  such  con- 
ceptions. 

The  supreme  obstacle  to  the  understanding  of 
the  Gospel  is  the  fact  of  sin.  Sin  underlies  all 
else  that  opposes.  It  has  benumbed  the  spiritual 
sensibilities  of  the  heathen,  seared  their  con- 
sciences, hardened  their  hearts,  and  made  their 
ears  dull  of  hearing.  God  only  can  awaken  them. 
None  awake  without  His  call. 

Difficulties  luithin  the  Church  on  the  mission 
field, 

(1)  Of  the  native  Christians.  On  nearly  every 
mission  field  the  poverty  of  the  native  Christians 
is  a  real  obstacle  to  the  work  of  evangelization. 
It  prompts  them  to  covetousness,  and  sometimes 
leads  them  to  enter  Christian  service  from  purely 
mercenary  motives.  On  the  other  hand  it  pre- 
vents the  more  rapid  enlargement  of  the  native 
evangelizing  agencies. 

While  the  life  of  the  native  Church  compares 
very  favorably  with  that  of  the  Church  in  Chris- 
tian lands,  nevertheless  its  lack  of  spirituality  is, 


DIFFICULTIES 

as  in  Cliristian  lands,  a  serious  drawback  to  ag- 
gressive, evangelistic  activity.  This  condition  is 
due  to  the  worldliness  and  religious  indifference 
which  characterize  the  minds  of  many  of  the 
members.  In  some  fields  so  many  have  come  into 
the  Church  from  political  or  commercial  reasons, 
without  a  genuine  change  of  heart,  that  the 
spiritual  standard  is  very  low.  Few  among  the 
native  Christians  know  by  experience  what  it  is 
to  be  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  There  is  often, 
therefore,  a  want  of  readiness  for  service^  and  a 
weakness  in  testimony. 

The  native  Church  in  most  countries  is  wanting"! 
in  independence  and  in  power  of  initiative.  In 
other  fields,  as  in  parts  of  Christendom,  there  is 
little  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  others.  If  the 
Gospel  is  to  be  preached  to  all  men  in  our  day, 
the  spirit  of  missions  must  come  upon  the  native 
Christians. 

It  is  difficult  to  get  a  sufficient  number  of 
earnest  and  deeply  spiritual  native  leaders. 
This  is  the  case  on  every  mission  field,  and  is 
due  on  the  one  hand  to  the  counter  attractions 
of  commercial  pursuits  and  government  service, 
and  on  the  other  to  lack  of  spirituality.  There 
is  no  greater  need  than  that  of  self  -  denying, 
courageous,    steadfast    native    leaders     in    each 


THE    EVANGELIZATION    OF    THE    WORLD 

heathen  land — men  of  such  real  personality  and 
depth  of  religious  experience  as  to  be  able  to 
arouse  and  to  mold  the  native  Church  and  to  lead 
!  its  members  in  the  work  of  aggressive  evangelism. 
I  (2)  Of  the  missionaries.  The  missionaries  have 
'  some  special  personal  difficulties.  In  several 
countries  they  must  face  physical  peril  which 
comes  from  dangerous  and  deadly  climates  and 
from  unhealthful  sanitary  conditions.  In  some 
fields,  especially  in  tropical  Africa,  the  rate  of 
mortality  among  the  foreign  workers  is  very  high. 
The  missionary  under  certain  conditions  finds 
it  hard  also  to  come  into  close  touch  with  the 
life  of  the  native  Christians.  There  is  more  or 
less  of  a  gulf  between  the  Occidental  and  the 
Oriental,  even  though  both  be  Christians.  The 
difference  in  clothing,  food,  houses,  social  cus- 
toms, education,  language  and  methods  of  thought 
all  make  the  chasm  more  difficult  to  bridge. 
Both  missionaries  and  native  Christians  frequently 
have  to  fight  against  mutual  distrust  and  sus- 
picion, and  also  against  temptations  to  exclu- 
siveness  and  a  sense  of  superiority.  Wherever 
such  barriers  are  allowed  to  stand,  they  not  only 
interfere  with  helpful  social  intercourse,  but  also 
prevent  unity  in  Christian  service. 

Attention  has  already  been  directed  to  the  ex- 
4Q 


DIFFICULTIES 

ternal  aspect  of  the  linguistic  difficulty.  It  has 
also  a  personal  aspect.  The  efficiency  of  the 
missionary,  taking  spiritual  qualifications  for 
granted,  will  be  in  direct  proportion  to  his 
knowledge  of  the  language  of  the  people  among 
whom  he  labors  and  his  ability  to  use  it.  The 
pathway  both  to  mind  and  heart  of  the  people 
is  through  their  mother  tongue.  It  is  not  easy 
to  master  any  language ;  it  is  a  tremendous  task 
to  get  a  thorough  hold  on  such  languages  as  the 
Arabic,  Chinese  and  Japanese.  What  an  under- 
taking, then,  to  translate  the  Gospel  into  the 
hundreds  of  languages  and  dialects  which  do  not 
to-day  give  expression  to  the  glorioub  message. 
Professor  Warneck  has  expressed  the  fear  also  that 
some  of  the  translations  already  made  are  at  the 
best  but  provisional,  because  the  translators  lacked 
the  necessary  scientific  qualifications.^  To  do  such 
work  in  a  manner  faithful  to  the  meaning  which 
the  missionary  wishes  to  convey,  and  at  the  same 
time  faithful  to  the  idioms  of  the  new  language, 
is  difficult  indeed.  It  is  hard  to  translate  Chris- 
tian ideas  into  the  languages  of  the  heathen  so  as 
to  convey  our  exact  meaning,  because  the  words 
we  are  obliged  to  use  often  have  idolatrous  or 
heathen  associations  or  applications.  The  mis- 
»  «  Missions  and  Culture,"  117,  118. 
41 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF    THE    WOELD 

siona-  y  oral  instruction  must  patiently  explain 
the  Gc  el  until  new  ideas  are  associated  with  the 
words.  Until  this  is  done,  even  though  the 
heather  ;  able  to  read  the  Scriptures,  they  will 
be  unab       o  grasp  the  real  meaning. 

Mission  ies  the  world  over  unite  in  saying 
that  their  chief  battle  ground  is  in  their  own 
hearts,  and  that  their  greatest  difficulty  is  that  of 
preserving  a  triumphant  and  an  ever-expanding 
spiritual  life.  While  this  is  true  also  of  Christian 
workers  on  the  home  fields,  the  conflict  is  possibly 
harder  on  the  mission  field  than  at  home.  The 
reasons  are  that  heathenism  exerts  such  a  chilling 
and  depressing  influence  on  the  spiritual  life,  and 
that  the  missionary  is  so  largely  cut  off  from  in- 
timate association  with  deeply  spiritual  people, 
from  conventions  and  conferences,  and  from  other 
uplifting  and  inspiring  influences  which  charac- 
terize a  society  dominated  by  Christian  ideas  and 
ideals. 
Difficulties  within  the  CJiurch  in  Christian  lands. 

Misconceptions  and  scepticism  among  Chris- 
tians at  home  regarding  the  necessity  and  obliga- 
tion to  evangelize  the  world  constitute  a  primary 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  its  accomplishment.  The 
number  of  those  who  believe  that  the  world  ought 
to  be  evangelized  is  as  yet  comparatively  small. 
42 


DIFFICULTIES 

Until  a  sufficient  number  of  Christia  believe 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  members  of  t  'Church 
to  evangelize  the  world  it  will  not  be  d(,  \  Many 
fail  to  regard  Christ^s  command  as  imp  ^-ative,  and 
look  on  the  promotion  of  the  enterp  ;  of  evan- 
gelization as  optional  so  far  as  they  a  > 'concerned. 
The  vast  majority  of  the  membership  of  the  Church 
have  yet  to  learn  that  the  taking  of  a  knowledge  of 
Christ  to  the  whole  world  without  needless  delay 
is  a  most  pressing  duty. 

Underlying  this  lack  of  appreciation  of  the 
urgency  of  the  work  is  a  far  too  prevalent  scepti- 
cism as  to  the  real  necessity  of  preaching  Christ  to 
all  men.  Very  many  Christians  entertain  the  be- 
lief that  Christianity  is  not  the  absolute  religion  ; 
that  other  religions  have  saving  power ;  that  the 
nations  can  get  along  without  Christ.  This  fun- 
damental failure  to  realize  that  without  Christ 
these  multitudes  are  without  ho23e  necessarily 
weakens  the  sense  of  personal  responsibility  and 
cuts  the  nerve  of  missions. 

The  want  of  unity  among  different  branches  of 
the  Church  at  home,  as  a  result  of  denomina- 
tional pride,  jealousy  and  misunderstandings,  is  a 
serious  hindrance  to  the  work  on  the  mission  field. ^ 

'  Dr.  Griffith  John,  letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volun- 
teer Movement 

43 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

It  results  in  overlapping,  friction  and  waste  of 
force.  At  times  it  has  prevented  the  missionaries 
from  making  an  equitable  division  of  the  unoccu- 
pied regions,  and  therefore  has  delayed  the  world- 
wide proclamation  of  the  Gospel. 

The  invasion  of  the  Church  by  the  world  is  a 
menace  to  the  extension  of  Christ's  Kingdom.  In 
all  ages  conformity  to  the  world  by  Christians  has 
resulted  in  a  lack  of  spiritual  life  and  a  consequent 
lack  of  spiritual  vision  and  enterprise.  A  secular- 
ized or  self-centered  Church  can  never  evangelize 
the  world. 

r  The  fundamental  difficulty  on  the  home  field  is 
the  lack  of  missionary  pastors.  If  the  leader  of  a 
congregation  is  ignorant  or  indifferent  or  sceptical 
concerning  the  need  and  obligation  of  the  Church 
to  evangelize  the  world  it  will  be  strange  if  the 
same  may  not  be  said  of  the  large  majority  of  the 
members.  A  task  so  vast  can  be  achieved  only  by 
a  Church  filled  with  the  spirit  of  missions.  There- 
fore, if  we  are  to  have  congregations  abounding  in 
faith,  self-sacrifice,  prayer  and  aggressive  zeal,  we 
must  have  pastors  who  have  caught  the  vision  of 
a  world  evangelized,  and  whose  plans,  utterances, 
prayers  and  activities  are  under  the  commanding 
influence  of  that  vision. 


U 


DIFFICULTIES 

Some  considerations  suggested  ly  the  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 

It  should  be  observed  that  by  no  means  all 
of  the  difficulties  given  in  the  foregoing  outline 
apply  to  any  one  mission  field,  still  less  to  the 
unevangelized  world  as  a  whole.  Certain  lands, 
races  and  religions  present  a  stronger  combination 
of  obstacles  than  others.  Here  and  there  are  cita- 
dels of  mighty  strength  which  will  yield  only  to 
siege  work.  On  the  other  hand  there  are  doors  of 
access  to  every  race  and  religion  and  to  nearly 
every  nation,  so  that  it  is  possible  to  press  forward 
on  every  hand  the  work  of  evangelization. 

These  difficulties,  however,  cannot  be  ignored. 
They  must  be  reckoned  with.  There  is  nothing 
to  be  gained  by  deceiving  ourselves  as  to  their 
existence,  number  and  greatness.  They  should  be 
looked  at  with  clear  eye,  and  their  strength  should 
be  sanely  estimated.  The  maxim  of  Moltke, 
,"Erst  wag's  dann  wag's" — First  deliberate, 
then  dare — suggests  the  duty  of  every  Christian 
with  reference  to.  the  vast  and  arduous  under- 
taking of  world-wide  evangelization  within  the 
generation. 

Not  one  of  these  difficulties  is  insuperable. 
Obstacles  similar,  or  others  equally  great,  already 
45 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOULD 

have  been  overcome.  Think  of  the  difficulties 
which  have  been  removed  within  the  past  half 
century  !  God  has  opened  up  within  fifty  years 
the  most  populous  regions  of  the  globe,  including 
some  which  in  the  last  generation  were  inaccessible. 
Kailway  lines  have  been  extended  all  over  Southern 
Asia.  Steamboats  are  now  found  on  lakes  and 
rivers  in  Central  Africa,  and  railways  are  penetrat- 
ing that  continent  from  every  direction.  China 
has  at  last  opened  widely  to  the  railway  and  to 
steam  navigation.  Even  the  exclusive  Province 
of  Hunan,  where  settled  mission  work  was  im- 
possible five  years  ago,  is  now  the  scene  of  the 
fruitful  evangelistic  labors  of  several  missionary 
societies. 

The  political  changes  which  have  taken  place 
within  the  memory  of  men  now  living  have  been 
equally  remarkable.  Nearly  the  whole  Roman 
Catholic  world  has  been  opened  to  Protestant 
workers  within  fifty  years.  It  is  only  forty 
years  since  Japan  began  to  admit  foreign  mis- 
sionaries, and  now  there  are  no  restrictions  to 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  throughout  the  en- 
tire Empire.  A  little  over  a  generation  ago  all 
China  was  closed  to  outsiders  save  five  port  cities. 
Now  evangelists  can  proclaim  Christ  in  every 
corner  of  the  land.  *  Within  a  generation  Africa 
46 


DIFFICULTIES 

has  been  parceled  ont  among  tlie  nations  of 
Western  Europe.  Aggressive  missionary  opera- 
tions are  now  carried  on  in  all  the  great  divis- 
ions of  that  continent.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact 
that  Eussia,  while  not  allowing  Protestants  to 
carry  on  an  active  preaching  propaganda,  affords 
to  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  every 
facility  for  the  circulation  of  the  New  Testament. 
The  printed  Gospel  is  finding  its  way  even  into 
Afghanistan  and  Tibet.  Thus  within  the  half 
century  over  700,000,000  people  have  been  made 
accessible  to  the  missionary.  In  the  light  of 
these  developments  shall  we  designate  any  fields 
as  inaccessible  ?  '^  Has  God  ever  declared  them 
so  ?  Has  the  Christian  Church  faithfully  tried 
and  found  them  so  ?  Are  we  in  this  age  of  the 
world  justified  in  acknowledging  that  it  is  be- 
yond the  power  and  resource  of  our  Christianity 
to  reach  them  ?  "  ^ 

Hundreds  of  women  missionaries  are  now  at 
work  among  the  women  of  India,  the  Turkish 
Empire  and  other  lands,  although  two  generations 
ago  this  was  regarded  as  impossible. 

Henry  Martyn  when  in  India  wrote,  ^'How 
shall  it  ever  be  possible  to  convince  a  Hindu  or 
Brahmin  of  anything  ?     .     .     .     Truly,  if  ever  I 

^  Dr.  Dennis,  in  "  Missions  at  Home  and  Abroad,"  243. 
47 


THE  EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  WORLD 

see  a  Hindu  a  real  believer  in  Jesus,  I  shall  see 
something  more  nearly  approaching  the  resurrec- 
tion of  a  dead  body  than  anything  I  have  yet 
seen."^  To-day  there  are  in  the  Indian  Church 
hundreds  of  high-caste  Hindu  converts.  That 
work  for  Moslems  is  hopeless,  as  some  church 
leaders  insisted  less  than  a  generation  ago,  is 
abundantly  disproved  by  the  recent  history  of  mis- 
sions in  Sumatra,  the  Punjab,  Persia,  Arabia  and 
Northern  Africa.  All  people  are  capable  of  re- 
ceiving the  Gospel.  Some  would  argue  that  this 
is  not  true, — that  there  are  those  whose  minds  and 
hearts  are  so  darkened,  hardened  and  debased  that 
they  are  incapable  of  understanding  its  message  to 
them  and  not  susceptible  to  its  blessed  and  mighty 
influence.  But  the  history  of  missions  in  every 
land  totally  refutes  this  idea.  Is  it  not  a  fact  of 
large  meaning  and  encouragement  that  in  all  parts 
of  the  world  missions  have  won  remarkable  tri- 
umphs among  the  most  benighted  and  degraded  ? 
The  duty  of  the  Church  then,  as  Duff  urged,  is  to 
*'  go  with  the  blessed  Gospel,  and  proclaim  it  to 
all  people  who  can  be  induced  to  listen  to  it ;  and 
where  God  has  His  elect,  there  the  soul  will  be 
reached."'^  2    j^rom  the  days  of   the  Apostles  the 

1  Dr.  George  Smith,  "  Henry  Martyn,"  224. 
*  "Proceedings  of  the  Union  Missionary  Convention,"  34. 
48 


DiFFlCULTlES 

uplifted  Christ  and  the  energizing  Holy  Spirit 
have  proved  their  ability  so  to  transform  men  that 
''  where  sin  abounded,  grace  did  abound  more  ex- 
ceedingly." 1 

The  greatest  hindrances  to  the  evangelization 
of  the  world  are  those  within  the  Church.  Dr. 
Griffith  John,  who  has  been  at  work  in  China  for 
forty-five  years,  says  :  ^'  I  do  not  consider  the 
difficulties  external  to  the  Church  of  vital  impor- 
tance. The  difficulties  within  the  Church  at 
home  are  the  ones  that  trouble  me.^^^  Dr.  Chauncy 
Goodrich,  who  has  labored  in  China  for  thirty-five 
years,  writes  :  ^'1  count  the  difficulties  of  the 
Chinese  language  and  Chinese  customs,  of  race 
prejudice  and  dense  ignorance,  of  political  exclu- 
sion and  bigoted  pride,  all  as  nothing  before  a 
Church  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  the  Great  Com- 
mission." ^  These  opinions  seem  to  reflect  the 
thought  of  the  ablest  missionaries  in  all  parts  of 
the  world.  It  is  a  significant  fact,  and  should  do 
much  to  banish  scepticism  from  the  minds  of 
Christians  on  the  home  fields. 

There  is  a  tendency  among  many  Christians 
unduly  to  magnify  difficulties,  and  to  minimize  the 

1  Rom.  V.  20. 

2  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 
*Ibid. 

49 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OV   THE   WORLD 

Providential  opportunities,  the  promises  of  God 
and  the  resources  of  witnesses  and  ambassadors  for 
Jesus  Christ.  *'Like  the  ten  spies  we  look  at 
God  through  the  human  difficulties  and  the  human 
magnitude  of  the  work,  instead  of  looking  at  the 
difficulties  through  God  and  counting  on  His 
supernatural  and  divine  power  always  commensu- 
rate with  the  responsibility  He  gives  us/^* 

Difficulties  are  not  without  their  advantages. 
They  are  not  to  unnerve  us.  They  are  not  to  be 
regarded  simply  as  subjects  for  discussion  nor  as 
grounds  for  scepticism  and  pessimism.  They  are 
not  to  cause  inaction,  but  rather  to  intensify  ac- 
tivity. They  were  made  to  be  overcome.  They 
are  to  call  forth  the  best  that  is  in  Christians. 
Above  all,  they  are  to  create  profound  distrust  in 
human  plans  and  energy  and  to  drive  us  to  God. 
''  Behold,  I  am  the  Lord,  the  God  of  all  flesh  :  is 
there  anything  too  hard  for  me  ?  "  ^  Until  we  find 
some  difficulty  which  is  too  hard  for  Almighty 
God  we  have  no  right  to  be  discouraged.  We 
must  always  take  into  account  God  Himself  and 
{  the  omnipotent,  irresistible  forces  which  He  has 
placed  at  our  disposal.  ''The  things  which  are 
impossible  with  men  are  possible  with  God."  ^ 

'  Mr.  George  Sherwood  Eddy,  letter  in  Archives  of  the  Stu- 
dent Volunteer  Movement. 

2  Jer.  xxxii.  27.  ^  gt.  Luke  xviii.  27. 

50 


IV 


THE  POSSIBILITY  OF  EVANGELIZING  THE 
WORLD  IN  THIS  GENERATION  IN  VIEW  OF 
THE  ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  THE  FIRST  GEN- 
ERATION   OF   CHRISTIANS 

Oke  of  the  most  distinguishing  characteristics  of 
early  Christianity  was  the  wide  propagation  of  the 
Gospel.  The  age  of  the  Apostles  was  pre-emi- 
nently a  missionary  age.  The  first  generation  of 
Christians  did  more  to  accomplish  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  accessible  world  than  has  any  succeed- 
ing generation.  This  first  generation  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  period  extending  from  the  Day  of 
Pentecost  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  or  from 
30  A.D.  to  70  A.D.  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
contains  the  principal  record  of  the  achievements 
of  the  Christians  during  this  period.  It  describes 
in  bold  outline  the  progress  of  Christianity  from 
its  beginnings  at  Jerusalem,  the  capital  of  the 
Jewish  world,  to  its  establishment  at  Rome,  the 
capital  of  the  heathen  world.  One  of  its  objects 
is  to  show  how  the  early  Christians  labored  to  ex- 
51 


THE  EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

tend  Christ's  Kingdom.  Several  of  the  Epistles 
also  throw  valuable  light  on  the  nature  and  extent 
of  the  evangelistic  work  of  the  time.  The  Apos- 
tolic Church  has  furnished  many  helpful  lessons 
to  the  Christians  of  all  subsequent  generations ; 
but  in  no  respect  is  its  example  more  instructive 
and  more  inspiring  than  in  what  it  teaches  con- 
cerning world-wide  evangelization. 

The  field  of  the  Christian  operations  of  the  first 
generation,  so  far  as  authentic  records  inform  us, 
was  limited  practically  to  the  Eoman  Empire. 
That  Empire  reached  from  Scotland  to  the  Afri- 
can deserts  and  to  the  cataracts  of  the  Nile ;  and 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates. 
It  stretched  from  East  to  West  a  distance  of  over 
three  thousand  miles.  It  comprised  Italy,  the 
ruling  state,  and  thirty-five  provinces  of  which 
three  were  insular,  seven  were  in  Asia,  five  in  Af- 
rica and  twenty  in  Europe.  It  bound  together 
peoples  differing  widely  in  civilization  as  well 
as  in  race.  The  estimates  of  the  population 
range  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  and  twenty 
millions. 

The  social,  moral  and  religious  condition  of  the 

Empire  in  the  first  century  was  most  distressing, 

notwithstanding  extenuating  facts  which  might  be 

given.     According  to  Gibbon,  not  less  than  one- 

52 


ACHIEVEMENTS    OF    THE    EARLY    CHRISTIANS 

half  tlie  population  were  slaves.'^  There  was  gen- 
eral contempt  for  labor.  Extravagance  and  luxury 
were  carried  to  unexampled  extremes.  Society 
was  thoroughly  demoralized.  Marriage  had  fallen 
into  decay,  and  polygamy,  concubinage  and  infan- 
ticide were  sanctioned  by  leading  men.  The  worst 
forms  of  vice  and  pollution  were  frightfully  preva- 
lent. There  was  a  general  passion  for  cruel  games. 
The  old  mythological  religions  had  lost  their  hold 
on  the  intelligent  classes.  Philosophy  had  run  into 
materialism,  scepticism  and  pessimism.  The  as- 
sociations called  up  by  such  names  as  Tiberius, 
Gains,  Claudius  and  Nero  ;  the  revelations  of  the 
recent  excavations  of  the  cities  of  Italy  and  the 
Levant ;  the  records  of  Tacitus,  Seneca,  Juvenal 
and  other  classical  writers,  all  confirm  the  truth- 
fulness of  St.  Paul's  description  in  the  first  chap- 
ter of  Eomans  of  the  terrible  state  of  the  heathen 
world  in  his  day.  Into  such  a  society  the  early 
Christians  went  forth  to  proclaim  the  Gospel.  In 
no  part  of  the  world  to-day  is  Christ  more  needed 
than  He  was  throughout  the  Eoman  Empire  in  the 
days  of  the  Apostles. 

There  were  several  favoring  circumstances  which 
helped  to  make  possible  the  wide  and  rapid  procla- 

*  ' '  The  History  of  tlie  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire," I.,  53. 

53 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

nation  of  the  Gospel.  Commercial  enterprise, 
Roman  law  and  government,  the  imperial  system 
of  roads  and  other  communications,  and  the  gen- 
eral use  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  had  so 
closely  united  all  parts  of  the  Empire  as  to  facili- 
tate the  propagation  of  ideas  and  impulses.  Pro- 
fessor Ramsay  says  :  '^  Travelling  was  more  highly 
developed,  and  the  dividing  power  of  distance  was 
weaker,  under  the  Empire  than  at  any  other  time 
before  or  since,  until  we  come  down  to  the  present 
century."  ^  Although  Greek  philosophy  had  shown 
its  inability  to  satisfy  the  mind  and  heart,  it  never- 
theless did  help  to  prepare  some  minds  for  the 
clearer  apprehension  of  the  Christian  faith. 

The  prevalence  of  the  Greek  language,  and  the 
fact  that  the  Septuagint  version  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment was  widely  disseminated,  enabled  the  Apos- 
tles to  make  themselves  understood  in  every  city. 
In  nearly  every  large  center  of  population  there 
was  a  Jewish  community,  and  also  a  synagogue  in 
which  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  were  ex- 
pounded. Besides  this  there  were  in  all  these 
places  Jewish  proselytes  who  had  been  gathered 
from  the  heathen  and  who  proved  to  be  the  most 
susceptible  hearers  of  the  Gospel.  Thus  in  a  sense 
''every  synagogue  was  a  mission-station  of  mono- 

»  "  St.  Paul  the  Traveller  and  the  Roman  Citizen,"  352. 
64 


ACHIEVEMENTS    OF    THE    EARLY   CHRISTIANS 

theism,  and  furnirsliod  the  Apostles  an  admirable 
place  and  a  natural  introduction  for  their  preach- 
ing of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  fulfiller  of  the  law  and 
the  prophets."  *• 

The  first  generation  of  Christians  accomplished 
wonders  toward  the  evangelization  of  the  world  in 
their  day.  This  is  clear,  judging  even  from  the 
comparatively  meager  Scripture  records,  and  it  is 
enforced  by  several  considerations.  In  tlie  first 
phicc,  the  different  cities,  districts  and  provinces 
reached  by  the  early  Christians  with  the  Gospel 
suggests  the  vast  extent  of  their  work.  Among 
tlie  multitude  present  in  Jerusalem  on  the  Day  of 
Pentecost  there  were  "  Parthians  and  Medes  and 
Elamites,  and  the  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia,  in 
Judaea  and  Cappadocia,  in  Pontus  and  Asia,  in 
Phrygia  and  Pamphylia,  in  Egypt  and  the  parts 
of  Libya  about  Cyrene,  and  sojourners  from 
Rome,  both  Jews  and  proselytes,  Cretans  and  Ara- 
bians." ^  It  is  not  improbable  that  men  from  nearly 
all  these  regions  were  among  the  thousands  con- 
verted at  the  time  of  St.  Peter's  sermon,  and  that 
through  their  instrumentality  the  Gospel  was  car- 
ried to  different  and  widely  separated  parts  of  the 
Empire,  and  even  beyond  its  confines.^ 

1  Schaff,  "History  of  the  Christian  Church,"  I.,  87. 

2  Acts  ii.  9-11.  ^  Rev.  Chalmers  Martin,  "Apostolic 
and  Modern  Missions,"  19o. 

55 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

The  persecntion  in  connection  with  the  work  of 
Stephen  scattered  the  disciples  ''abroad  through- 
out the  regions  of  Judaea  and  Samaria,"^  where 
they  carried  on  an  active 'evangelistic  campaign. 
We  then  have  record  of  the  work  of  evangeliza- 
tion in  the  city  and  villages  of  Samaria  by  Philip, 
St.  Peter,  and  St.  John,  of  the  visits  of  Philip, 
and  later  of  St.  Peter,  to  a  number  of  cities  in 
Judaea.  The  account  of  St.  Luke  also  shows 
that  the  persecuted  disciples  traveled  to  Phce- 
nicia,  Antioch,  Damascus  and  Cyprus,  preaching 
Christ. 

With  two  or  three  exceptions  the  Gospel  thus 
far  had  been  proclaimed  to  Jews  and  Jewish  prose- 
lytes. Then  came  the  conversion  of  St.  Paul,  the 
great  apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  After  spending  a 
few  years  at  work  in  Cilicia  and  Syria,  chiefly  in 
Tarsus  and  Antioch,  he  launched  out  on  his  great 
missionary  career,  which  continued  for  over  ten 
years.  He  made  three  extensive  missionary  tours, 
which  carried  him  over  a  number  of  the  provinces 
of  the  Empire.  He  evangelized  the  four  prov- 
inces, Galatia,  Asia,  Macedonia  and  Achaia,  in  all 
of  which  he  established  churches  which  continued 
to  send  out  light  for  centuries.  Of  his  four  years 
in  captivity  two  were  spent  in  Rome,  and  were 

^  Acts  viii,  2. 
66 


ACHIEVEMENTS    OF    THE    EAELY    CHRISTIANS 

filled  with  evangelistic  labors.  It  is  possible  also 
that  he  carried  out  his  expressed  desire  and  inten- 
tion to  visit  Spain. 

The  Scriptures  tell  us  little  regarding  the  later 
work  of  the  other  Apostles.  St.  Peter  probably 
devoted  himself  to  work  among  the  Jews  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  Empire.  The  tradition  is  quite 
generally  accepted  that  he  preached  and  suffered 
martyrdom  in  Home.  Beyond  reasonable  doubt 
St.  John  lived  and  worked  for  years  in  Ephesus. 
Although  the  numerous  traditions  about  the  other 
Apostles  are  not  well  supported,  we  may  be  cer- 
tain that  they  were  not  idle  nor  silent  with  refer- 
ence to  the  mission  of  Christ  to  men.^  That  other 
Apostles  preached  in  pagan  and  barbarous  nations 
'^  is  rendered  likely  by  the  extreme  antiquity  and 
the  marked  Judseo-Christian  character  of  Churches 
which  still  exist  in  Persia,  India,  Egypt,  and 
Abyssynia.^' 2  Moreover,  in  addition  to  St.  Paul 
and  the  Twelve,  there  must  have  been  very  many 
other  Christians  from  among  the  hundreds  who 
saw  Christ  after  His  resurrection,  not  to  mention 
the  ever-increasing  multitude  of  believers  from  the 
Day  of   Pentecost   onward,   who,  filled  with  the 

'  Uhlhorn,  *'  The  Conflict  of  Christianity  with  Heathen- 
ism/' 220. 

«  Earrar,  "  The  Early  Days  of  Christianity,"  67. 
57 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

same  missionary  spirit  as  Stephen,  Philip,  Barna- 
bas and  St.  Paul,  devoted  their  energies  to  preach- 
ing the  Gospel  in  the  Roman  Empire  and  also  in 
the  outlying  heathen  lands. 

The  Scripture  references  to  the  results  of  the 
preaching  of  the  Apostles  are  also  suggestive  both 
of  the  magnitude  and  of  the  thoroughness  of  their 
work  of  evangelization.  After  St.  Peter's  sermon 
on  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  'Hhere  were  added  unto 
them  in  that  day  about  three  thousand  souls."  ^ 
During  the  period  which  followed,  ^^  the  Lord  added 
to  them  day  by  day  those  that  were  being  saved."  * 
St.  Peter's  sermon  in  Solomon's  porch  resulted  in 
many  conversions,  '^and  the  number  of  the  men 
came  to  be  about  five  thousand."  ^  As  a  result  of 
later  work  by  the  Apostles,  ^'^  believers  were  the 
more  added  to  the  Lord,  multitudes  both  of  men 
and  women."  ^  After  the  period  of  persecution 
which  followed  the  death  of  Stephen,  "  the  church 
throughout  all  Judaea  and  Galilee  and  Samaria 
had  peace,  being  edified  ;  and  .  .  .  was  multi- 
plied."^ When  Christians  of  Cyprus  and  Cyrene 
came  to  Antioch  and  preached  the  Gospel  to  the 
Greeks,  ''a  great  number  that  believed  turned 
unto  the  Lord  ; "  ^  and  later  under  the  preaching 

i  Acts  ii.  41.  «  Acts  u.'iJ.  « Acts  iv.  4. 

*  Acts  V.  14.  5  Acts  ix.  31.  « Acts  xi.  21. 

58 


ACHIEVEMENTS  OF    THE    EAELY    CHRISTIANS 

of  Barnabas  in  the  same  city,  ''  much  people  was 
added  unto  the  Lord/'  ^ 

In  Pisidian  Antioch  also,  when  St.  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas were  on  the  first  missionary  journey,  it  is  said 
that  ^^  almost  the  whole  city  was  gathered  together 
to  hear  the  word  of  God,"^  that  of  the  Gentiles 
**  as  many  as  were  ordained  to  eternal  life  be- 
lieved/' ^  and  that ''  the  word  of  the  Lord  was  spread 
abroad  throughout  all  the  region."'*  In  Iconium 
these  two  missionaries  ^'  so  spake,  that  a  great 
multitude  both  of  Jews  and  of  Greeks  believed."^ 
When  St.  Paul  next  went  over  the  ground  covered 
on  his  first  journey  the  churches  were  not  only 
''  strengthened  in  the  faith,"  ^  but  also  "  increased 
in  number  daily."  "^  At  Thessalonica  St.  Paul 
preached  Christ  for  three  Sabbaths  and  among 
those  who  believed  were  "  devout  Greeks  a  great 
multitude."^  In  Beroea  ^*^many  of  them  [Jews] 
therefore  believed ;  also  of  the  Greek  women  of 
honourable  estate,  and  of  men,  not  a  few."^  Even 
at  Athens  ^'  certain  men  clave  unto  him  [St.  Paul], 
and  believed."  ^^ 

In  Corinth  the  Lord  spake  to  St.  Paul  by  a  vi- 
sion and  assured  him,  "  I  have  much  people  in  this 

'  Acts  xi.  24.  '^  Acts  xiii.  44.  ^  ^cts  xiii.  48. 

*  Acts  xiii.  49.         ^  Acts  xiv.  1.  ^  Acts  xvi.  6. 

'Acts  xvi.  5.  8  Acts  xvii.  4.  ^  Acts  xvii.  12. 

^  Acts  xvii.  34. 

59 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF   THE   WORLD 

citj,"^  It  is  also  said  that  as  a  result  of  St.  Paul's 
preaching  "  many  of  the  Corinthians  hearing  be- 
lieved, and  were  baptized/^  ^  His  few  years'  work 
in  Ephesns  was  so  successful  "that  all  they  which 
dwelt  in  [the  province  of]  Asia  heard  the  word  of 
the  Lord,  both  Jews  and  Greeks."  ^  Even  before 
St.  Paul  visited  Rome  he  could  write  the  Chris- 
tians there  saying,  '*  Your  faith  is  proclaimed 
throughout  the  whole  world. '*  ^  In  the  same  let- 
ter he  was  also  able  to  state  that  '^  from  Jerusalem, 
and  round  about  even  unto  Illyricum  [on  the 
shores  of  the  Adriatic],  I  have  fully  preached  the 
gospel  of  Christ."^  While  in  Rome  he  writes  to 
the  Philippians,  "  my  bonds  became  manifest  in 
Christ  throughout  the  whole  praetorian  guard,  and 
to  all  the  rest."*  Still  more  striking  are  the  state- 
ments made  in  writing  to  the  Colossians.  He  re- 
minds them  of  what  they  had  heard  "in  the  word 
of  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  which  is  come  unto  you  ; 
even  as  it  is  also  in  all  the  world  bearing  fruit  and 
increasing,  as  it  doth  in  you  also." '  He  likewise 
exhorts  them  to  hold  to  the  Gospel  "  which  was 
preached  in  all  creation  under  heaven."  ^  We  may 
safely  infer  from  the  foregoing  passages,  not  only 


» Acts  xviii.  10. 

2  Acts  XTiii.  8. 

3Actsxix.  10. 

4  Rom.  i.  8. 

5  Rom.  XV.  19. 

«Phil.  L  13, 

'Col.i.  6,  6. 

"001.1.23. 
60 

ACHIEVEMENTS   OF   THE   EABLY   CHRISTIANS 

that  Christianity  had  been  very  rapidly  and  widely 
diffused,  but  also  that  it  had  won  a  great  many 
adherents. 

The  evangelistic  achievements  of  the  early 
Christians  were  remarkable,  not  merely  when 
viewed  territorially  and  numerically,  but  also  when 
we  consider  the  various  classes  in  society  who  were 
reached  by  their  preaching.  Gibbon,  in  giving 
voice  to  the  charge  of  those  hostile  to  Christianity, 
says  that  the  body  of  its  early  adherents  was  *'  al- 
most entirely  composed  of  the  dregs  of  the  pop- 
ulace— of  peasants  and  mechanics,  of  boys  and 
women,  of  beggars  and  slaves."  ^  This  is  mislead- 
ing ;  for  while  the  majority  of  the  Christians  of 
the  first  generation  belonged  to  people  of  inferior 
rank,  there  were  many  who  came  from  the  middle 
and  upper  classes.  In  fact  Professor  Ramsay  main- 
tains that  Christianity  '^  spread  at  first  among  the 
educated  more  rapidly  than  among  the  unedu- 
cated ; "  2  and  points  out  in  another  place  how  "  the 
working  and  thinking  classes,  with  the  students, 
if  not  the  professors,  at  the  universities,  were  at- 
tracted to  the  new  teaching  ;  and  it  spread  among 
them  with  a  rapidity  that  seemed  to  many  modern 

^  *'  The  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman 
Elmpire,"  I.,  584. 
*  **  The  Church  in  the  Roman  Empire,"  67. 
61 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF   THE   WORLD 

critics  incredible  and  fabulous,  till  it  was  justi- 
fied by  recent  discoveries/'^ 

A  disproportionately  large  number  of  the  con- 
verts mentioned  in  the  Scriptures  belonged  to  the 
better  strata  of  the  Roman  population.  Men  and 
women  who  possessed  property  were  reached,  such 
as  Barnabas  of  Cyprus,  Ananias,  Lydia  and  the 
mother  of  John  Mark.  The  spread  of  Christianity 
among  the  rich  may  be  inferred  also  from  the 
various  references  to  them  in  the  Epistles.  Not 
only  did  slaves  become  Christians  but  also  mas- 
ters. Men  of  education  were  won  to  Christ, — as 
St.  Paul,  Crispus,  and  *'a  great  company  of  the 
priests''^  in  Jerusalem  who  were  *^  obedient  to  the 
faith.''  ^  Not  a  few  of  the  converts  were  men  high 
in  political  or  social  station,  among  whom  we  find 
Cornelius,  Manaen,  the  foster  brother  or  compan- 
ion of  Herod  the  Tetrarch,  and  the  proconsul, 
Sergius  Paulus.  Festus,  Agrippa  and  members  of 
the  highest  court  in  Rome,  although  they  did  not 
become  Christians,  had  the  Gospel  preached  to 
them.  Among  the  converts  in  Thessalonica  were 
''  chief  women  not  a  few,"  ^  and  in  Beroea  '^  Greek 
women  of  honourable  estate."^     Professor  Har- 

'  *'  St.  Paul  the  Traveller  and  the  Roman  Citizen,"  134. 
'  Acts  vi.  7.  ^  Acts  vi.  7. 

*  Acts  xvii.  4.  ^  Acts  xvii.  12. 

62 


ACHIEVEMENTS    OF    THE    EARLY    CHRISTIANS 

nack  in  a  most  suggestive  article  shows  how  Chris- 
tianity early  made  its  way  into  the  imperial  fam- 
ily. "■  What  a  change  !  Between  fifty  and  sixty 
years  after  Christianity  reached  Rome,  a  daughter 
of  the  Emperor  [Vespasian]  embraces  the  faith."  ^ 
The  persecution  of  the  Christians  in  the  first 
century  bears  testimony  to  the  rapid  spread  of 
Christianity.  The  Neronian  persecution,  the  first 
bloody  encounter  with  the  Roman  state,  occurred 
in  A.D.  64  ;  and  in  connection  with  it  there  were 
^'an  immense  number''^  of  martyrs.^  Milman^s 
inference  seems  fair  that  ^*  the  people  would  not 
have  consented  to  receive  them  [the  Christians] 
as  atoning  victims  for  the  dreadful  disaster  of  the 
great  conflagration  ;  nor  would  the  reckless  tyr- 
anny of  the  emperor  have  condescended  to  select 
them  as  sacrificial  offerings  to  appease  the  popular 
fury,  unless  they  had  been  numerous,  far  above 
contempt,  and  already  looked  upon  with  a  jealous 
eye.  Nor  is  it  less  clear,  that,  even  to  the  blind 
discernment  of  popular  indignation  and  imperial 
cruelty,  the  Christians  were  by  this  time  distin- 
guished from  the  Jews.-"^  Although  the  next  im- 
perial persecution  was  that  of  Domitian  about  the 

'  Princeton  Review^  July,  1878,  p.  269. 
2  Tacitus,  "Anal."  XV.,  44. 
«"  The  History  of  Christianity,"  I.,  466. 
63 


THE  EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

end  of  the  first  century,  there  was  a  constant 
proscription  of  Christians  between  the  two  per- 
secutions. 

There  are  certain  facts  about  the  Christians  in 
the  second  generation  which  clearly  indicate  that 
a  great  work  of  evangelism  was  carried  on  in  the 
first  generation.  When  we  consider,  for  example, 
the  multitude  who  suffered  martyrdom  in  the  sec- 
ond generation  we  are  safe  in  assuming  that  there 
had  been  a  wide-spread  and  thorough  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  preceding  generation.  The  discover- 
ies of  De  Rossi  and  others  indicating  that  millions 
of  Christians  were  buried  in  the  catacombs  near 
Kome  within  eight  or  ten  generations  following  the 
first  century,  afford  reason  to  believe  that  Chris- 
tianity manifested  a  mighty  power  of  propagation 
in  the  Apostolic  Age. 

The  fierce  literary  attacks  which  the  Christian 
religion  called  forth  in  the  second  century,  as  well 
as  the  powerful  apologies  in  its  defence,  afford  ad- 
ditional evidence  that  the  missionary  achievements 
of  the  first  and  second  generations  must  have  been 
remarkable.  Pliny  the  younger,  who  lived  dur- 
ing the  generation  following  the  Apostles,  in  a  let- 
ter to  the  Emperor  written  in  the  year  112  while 
he  was  proconsul  of  Bithynia  and  Pontus,  observed 
that  Christianity  had  spread  throughout  his  prov- 
64 


ACHIEVEMENTS    OF    THE    EARLY    CHRISTIANS 

ince,  not  only  in  the  cities  but  also  in  the  villages 
and  country  districts,  that  the  pagan  rites  were  be- 
ing interrupted,  and  that  the  temples  were  almost 
deserted.^  If  this  could  be  said  so  early  and  of  such 
a  distant  province,  is  it  not  reasonable  to  assume 
that  the  Gospel  must  have  been  widely  preached  in 
the  preceding  generation  ?  Gibbon  thought  that 
Justin  Martyr  exaggerated  when  in  the  second  cen- 
tury he  declared  :  "  For  there  is  not  one  single  race 
of  men,  whether  barbarians,  or  Greeks,  or  what- 
ever they  may  be  called,  nomads,  or  vagrants,  or 
herdsmen  dwelling  in  tents,  among  whom  prayers 
and  giving  of  thanks  are  not  offered  through  the 
name  of  the  Crucified  Jesus."  ^  However,  Pro- 
fessor Orr,  commenting  on  Gibbon's  criticism, 
justly  says:  '*  If  one  reflects  that  Justin  does  not 
claim  that  all  the  races  or  tribes  he  speaks  of  had 
been  converted  to  the  Gospel,  or  were  even  pre- 
ponderatingly  Christian,  but  only  that  the  Gospel 
had  reached  them,  and  had  won  from  each  its 
tribute  of  believers,  the  exaggeration  need  not  be 
so  great  after  al\."^ 

What  the  early  Christians  achieved  seems  very 

»  Lightfoot,  "  Ignatius,"  I.,  50-53. 
^'''•DiaL  cum  Tryph.,"  C.  117;  also  Gibbon,  I.,  582. 
8  "Neglected  Factors  in  tlie  Study  of  the  Early  Progress 
of  Christianity,"  47. 

65 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOELD 

remarkable  considering  the  fact  that  at  the  time 
of  the  ascension  of  Christ  the  whole  number  of 
believers  did  not  exceed  a  few  hundreds,  and  that 
the  early  Church  had  to  contend  with  practically 
every  difficulty  which  confronts  the  Church  to- 
day. What  generation  of  Christians  has  met  vic- 
toriously such  a  combination  of  difficulties  and 
endured  such  sufferings  ?  The  social  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  the  spread  of  the  Christian  faith  were 
great.  Uhlhorn  asserts  that  "  whoever  became  a 
Christian  was  compelled  to  renounce  not  only  im- 
memorial prejudices,  but  usually,  also,  father  and 
mother,  brothers  and  sisters,  friends  and  rela- 
tives, place  and  employment."^  Attention  has 
already  been  called  to  the  terribly  corrupt  moral 
condition  of  the  world  and  the  prevalence  and 
vigor  of  the  forces  of  evil.  Superstition  still  ex- 
ercised great  power  over  the  minds  of  the  people. 
Polytheism  everywhere  presented  a  strong  barrier 
to  Christianity.  Judaism  with  its  exacting  legal- 
ism, its  exaltation  of  rites  and  ceremonies  and  its 
intense  caste  feeling  was  a  source  of  constant  diffi- 
culty to  the  missionaries.  False  teachers  and  se- 
ducers were  also  a  hindrance  to  the  progress  of 
the  Gospel.  The  graphic  catalogue  of  St.  Paul's 
perils  and  woes  given  in  his  second  letter  to  the 

>  "  Tlie  Conflict  of  Christianity  with  Heathenism,"  168. 
66 


ACHIEVEMENTS    OF   THE    EARLY    CHRISTIANS 

Corinthians  speaks  volumes  for  the  difficulties 
which  beset  the  Apostles  in  their  work. 

In  many  respects  the  most  serious  difficulty  was 
the  opposition  of  the  government.  Although 
Christianity  violated  no  statute  law  of  the  empire, 
the  Christians  were  often  persecuted  in  virtue  of 
the  police  authority  of  the  magistrates  which  au- 
thorized them  to  oppose  any  movement  threatening 
the  peace  or  welfare  of  the  community.  There 
are  good  grounds  for  the  belief  that  by  A.D.  64 
the  government  distinguished  the  Christians  from 
the  Jews  and  persecution  became  its  policy.  The 
fierce  and  persistent  persecutions  which  began  so 
soon  and  continued  for  generations  were  inevita- 
ble. ''Never  in  the  whole  course  of  human  his- 
tory have  two  so  unequal  powers  stood  opposed 
to  each  other  as  ancient  heathenism  and  early 
Christianity,  the  Koman  State  and  the  Chris- 
tian Church/^  ^ 

What  was  the  secret  of  the  achievements  of  the 
early  Christians  in  their  efforts  to  evangelize  the 
world  ?  The  favoring  external  circumstances  do 
not  furnish  an  adequate  explanation.  The  under- 
lying reasons  may  be  discovered  by  examining 
more  closely  the  practice  and  equipment  of  the 

^Uhlhorn,  *' Tiie  Conflict  of  Christianity  with  Heathen- 
ism," 150. 

67 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOELB 

Christians  of  the  Apostolic  Age.  In  the  first 
place,  the  leaders  of  the  Church  seem  to  have  had 
the  definite  aim  to  get  the  Gospel  preached  as 
widely  as  possible  within  their  day.  Only  in  this 
way  can  the  wide  distribution  and  marked  activity 
and  urgency  of  the  workers  be  explained. 

Not  only  the  Apostles  but  Christians  of  all 
classes  recognized  their  responsibility  for  the  ex- 
tension of  Christ^s  Kingdom  and  engaged  in  the 
work  of  proclaiming  the  Gospel.  The  Apostles 
welcomed  all  as  helpers  whether  laymen  or  minis- 
ters, men  or  women.  Only  three  of  the  Apostles 
are  mentioned  in  the  Acts  after  Pentecost,  whereas 
at  least  five  laymen  became  prominent  in  the  mis- 
sionary enterprise.  We  are  told  that  after  the  dis- 
persion the  disciples,  save  the  Apostles,  went  about 
preaching  the  word.  The  whole  Church  was  filled 
with  enthusiasm  for  the  work.  Gibbon  places  first 
among  the  causes  for  the  rapid  spread  of  Christian- 
ity the  fact  that  "  it  became  the  most  sacred  duty  of 
a  new  convert  to  diffuse  among  his  friends  the  in- 
estimable blessing  which  he  had  received."  ^  Thus 
the  duty  oi  the  evangelization  of  the  world  was  not 
the  burden  of  the  leaders  of  the  Church  alone,  but 
every  disciple  who  felt  the  power  of  the  Spirit 

' ''  The  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman 
Empire,"!.,  613. 

68 


ACHIEVEMENTS    OF    THE    EARLr    CHRISTIANS 

of  God  had  as  a  great  desire  and  controlling  object 
of  life  the  salvation  of  his  fellow  men. 

The  early  Christians  preached  the  Gospel  at 
every  opportunity  and  in  all  places.  Lightfoot 
observes,  '^A  marvelous  activity  [was  awakened] 
among  the  disciples  of  the  new  faith."  ^  This 
activity  was  not  limited  to  stated  times  and  places. 
Every  Christian  became  an  active  witness  within 
the  sphere  of  his  daily  calling.  For  example, 
traveling  craftsmen  and  traders,  like  Aquila  and 
Priscilla,  went  about  teaching  the  faith.  Fried- 
lander  says  that  "  the  messengers  of  the  new  doc- 
trine visited  not  only  cities,  but  also  villages  and 
farms ;  nay,  did  not  shun  to  force  themselves  be- 
tween those  related  by  blood."  ^  Professor  Mc- 
Giffert  expresses  the  opinion  that  '^  it  was  through 
this  quiet  hand-to-hand  work  that  he  [St.  Paul] 
doubtless  accomplished  most,  and  not  through 
public  preaching,  whether  in  synagogues  or  else- 
where."^ A  mechanic  would  tell  the  story  of 
what  Christ  had  done  for  him  to  a  member  of  the 
same  trade,  one  slave  to  his  fellow-slave,  one  mem- 
ber of  the  family  to  another.  This  constant  col- 
lision of  individual  souls  became  the  most  effec- 

»  "  Philippians,"  32,  33. 

'  *'  Sittengeschichte  Roms,"  III.,  517. 

'  "  A  History  of  Christianity  in  the  Apostolic  Age,"  255. 


THE    EVANGELIZATION    OF    THE    WOELD 

tive  means  for  the  diffusion  of  the  knowledge 
of  Christ. 

The  Christians  of  the  first  generation  kept 
pressing  into  the  unevangelized  regions.  It  was 
apparently  the  rule  to  enter  open  doors.  St.  Paul 
in  writing  to  the  Eomans  was  able  to  say  that  he 
had  striven — or  had  been  ambitious — to  preach  the 
Gospel  where  Christ  was  not  named.  Even  when 
he  announced  his  plan  to  visit  Rome  where  the 
Gospel  had  already  been  planted,  he  was  careful 
to  point  out  that  Spain  was  the  objective  of  his 
journey.  The  Thessalonian  Church  earned  the 
praise  of  being  a  model  to  all  the  believers  in 
Macedonia  and  Achaia,  because  from  them  had 
sounded  out  the  word  of  the  Lord  through  all  the 
region  beyond.  The  Church  as  a  whole  seemed 
to  have  an  ambition  to  proclaim  the  Gospel  in  the 
whole  world. 

The  leaders  centered  their  energies  on  the  stra- 
tegic points  of  the  Roman  Empire — the  great  cities. 
Christianity  became  strongly  established  in  the 
towns  before  it  spread  widely  through  the  country 
districts.  St.  Paul  in  particular,  with  character- 
istic statesmanship,  devoted  himself  largely  to  the 
cities.  Not  to  mention  the  years  which  he  gave 
to  Antioch  and  Tarsus,  we  find  him  spending 
eighteen  months  at  Corinth,  two  years  at  Rome, 
70 


ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  THE  EARLY  CHRISTIANS 

three  years  at  Epliesus,  and  probably  from  six 
weeks  to  eight  months  each  at  Pisidian  Antioch, 
Iconium,  Derbe,  Thessalonica,  Beroea,  Philippi  and 
Athens.^  Nearly  all  these  places  were  great  cen- 
ters not  only  of  population  but  also  of  govern- 
ment, commerce  and  education.  They  were  cen- 
ters of  wickedness  as  well.  Athens  was  the  great 
university  city  of  the  world.  Corinth  was  not 
only  the  metropolis  of  Achaia  but  also  one  of  the 
greatest  cities  in  the  Empire.  Ephesus  was  a  vast 
focus  merging  the  currents  of  life  from  both  East 
and  West.  Rome  was  the  metropolis  of  the  Em- 
pire, and  probably  the  most  cosmopolitan  city  of 
any  age. 

St.  Paul  laid  siege  to  these  cities,  regarding 
them,  however,  not  merely  as  ends  in  themselves, 
but  as  bases  for  aggressive  evangelistic  operations 
in  the  outlying  districts.  This  we  see  clearly  by 
noting  his  work  at  Ephesus.  It  was  the  capital  of 
tlie  province  of  Asia,  one  of  the  largest,  richest 
and  most  populous  provinces  in  the  Empire.  It 
is  said  that  there  were  five  hundred  cities  in  the 
province.^  St.  Paul  was  able  to  say  concerning 
immediate  labors  in  the  city,   *^by  the  space  of 

'  See  Ramsay's  ''  The  Church  in  the  Roman  Empire,"  and 
**  St.  Paul  the  Traveller  and  the  Roman  Citizen." 
2  Fisher,  "  The  Beginnings  of  Christianity,"  519. 

n 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF    THE   WORLD 

three  years  I  ceased  not  to  admonish  every  one 
night  and  day  with  tears/^^  and  St.  Luke  declares 
regarding  the  work  accomplished  in  the  province 
directly  and  indirectly  '^  that  all  they  which  dwelt 
in  Asia  heard  the  word  of  the  Lord,  both  Jews 
and  Greeks."^  It  is  entirely  probable  that  St. 
Paul  himself  made  tours  in  the  province.  It  is 
also  likely  that  he  sent  out  workers.  Many  people 
who  came  up  to  the  city  on  business  or  pleasure 
heard  the  new  doctrine,  yielded  to  its  influence 
and  went  back  to  their  homes  to  spread  the  truth. 
While  right  of  way  was  given  to  the  work  of 
evangelization,  the  Apostles  were  careful  to  con- 
serve results.  Converts  were  baptized  and  organ- 
ized into  churches.  The  aim  was  to  make  these 
churches  self-governing,  self-supporting  and  mis- 
sionary ;  and  when  all  the  difficulties  are  borne  in 
mind,  the  success  achieved  in  all  these  respects 
was  truly  remarkable.  St.  Paul  was  accustomed 
to  revisit  the  churches  which  he  had  helped  to  es- 
tablish. He  visited  the  Galatian  congregations  at 
least  twice.  He  sent  deputations  to  the  various 
churches  to  correct,  to  edify  and  to  inspire  them. 
He  had  a  number  of  subordinate  helpers  such  as 
Timothy,  Titus,  Mark  and  Erastus,  whom  he  kept 
busy  in  this  important  work.  The  Acts  and  the 
>  Acts  XX.  31.  2  ^cts  xix.  10. 

73 


ACHIEVEMENTS    OF    THE    EAELY    CHKISTIANS 

Epistles  give  the  names  of  about  one  hundred  com- 
panions and  disciples  of  St.  Paul.  Apostolic  and 
other  letters  were  sent  as  occasion  required  to 
different  churches  and  were  often  passed  on  from 
church  to  church.  Communication  by  means  of 
deputations  and  correspondence  was  kept  up  be- 
tween the  scattered  Christian  congregations,  not 
only  in  the  same  region  but  also  between  widely 
separated  parts  of  the  Empire.  The  itinerant 
apostles  and  prophets  were  very  numerous  in  the 
early  days.^  As  a  result  of  the  employment  of 
these  various  agencies,  the  Christians  of  the  first 
generation  were  made  conscious  of  their  unity  and 
felt  the  growing  strength  of  their  numbers. 

The  Apostolic  Church  committed  the  work  of 
extending  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  to  men  of  strong 
qualifications.     One  must  be  impressed  with  the 
thoroughness  of  the  equipment  of  workers  like  St. 
Paul,  Barnabas,  Apollos  and  Timothy.     Among  \ 
their  striking  qualifications  were  statesmanship,    \ 
clearness  of  vision,  breadth  of  sympathy,  intense    ' 
earnestness,  singleness  of  purpose,  heroism,  self- 
denial,  whole-souled  devotion  to  Christ,  large  faith 
in  God,  prayerf  ulness  and  dependence  on  the  Holy 
Spirit.      It  is  especially  noticeable  that  the  spirit- 

'McGiffert,  ''A  History  of  Christianity  in  the  Apostolic 
Age,"  640. 

7S 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF    THE    WORLD 

nal  qualifications  were  magnified  and  regarded  as 
absolutely  indispensable  for  all  workers,  even  those 
in  the  subordinate  positions.  In  choosing  the 
Seven,  the  Apostles  ordered  that  men  be  chosen 
who  were  "  full  of  the  Spirit."  ^  Apparently  no 
worker  was  encouraged  to  go  forth  to  evangel- 
ize who  had  not  first  been  filled  with  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

Prayer  had  a  very  prominent  place  in  the  early 
Church,  not  only  as  a  means  of  promoting  spirit- 
ual life,  but  also  as  a  force  to  be  used  on  behalf  of 
the  work  of  evangelization.  The  mighty  display 
of  power  at  Pentecost  was  ushered  in  by  prayer. 
Workers  were  appointed  only  after  prayer.  When 
they  were  to  be  sent  forth  the  Church  assembled 
for  special  prayer.  The  great  foreign  mission 
movement  was  inaugurated  in  prayer.  If  perse- 
cution came,  the  Christians  met  to  pray.  One  of 
the  two  reasons  for  choosing  deacons  was  that  the 
Apostles — the  leaders  of  the  Church — might  give 
themselves  to  prayer.  The  more  carefully  the 
subject  is  studied,  the  more  apparent  it  becomes 
that  what  was  accomplished  in  the  Apostolic  Age 
was  largely  due  to  the  constant  employment  of  the 
hidden  and  omnipotent  force  of  prayer. 

The  Spirit  of  God  guided  and  empowered  the 
» Acts  vi.  3. 
74 


ACHIEVEMENTS    OF    THE    EAELY    CHRISTIANS 

workers  and  thus  governed  and  energized  the  en- 
tire missionary  enterprise  of  the  Church.  He  des- 
ignated and  separated  the  workers  and  sent  them 
forth  unto  their  work.  He  clothed  them  with  irre- 
sistible power.  He  opened  and  closed  doors.  He 
led  them  in  times  of  perplexity.  In  His  might 
they  carried  the  Gospel  message  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  vast  empire  of  Eome 
and  even  into  the  regions  beyond. 

What  is  the  significance  of  the  achievements 
of  the  Christians  of  the  first  generation  for  the 
Christians  of  to-day  as  we  face  the  undertaking  of 
world  evangelization  in  this  generation  ?  While 
the  Apostolic  practice  may  not  be  intended  in 
every  respect  as  the  model  for  the  missionary  en- 
terprise in  all  ages,  for  the  simple  reason  that  con- 
ditions change,  their  example  and  the  real  secret 
of  their  triumphs  should  lift  our  faith,  and  guide 
us  to  the  successful  accomplishment  of  our  task. 
The  early  Christians  had  some  favoring  external 
conditions  which,  as  we  have  seen,  greatly  facili- 
tated the  wide,  rapid  and  thorough  proclamation 
of  the  Gospel.  But  as  we  recall  the  smallness  of 
their  number  and  the  difficulties  which  beset  their 
path,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  remind  ourselves 
not  only  of  our  obstacles  but  also  of  the  marvelous 
opportunities  and  resources  of  the  Church  to-day 
75 


THE  EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

and  the  facilities  at  our  disposal,  who  will  say  that 
the  balance  of  advantage  is  not  with  us  ? 

The  words  of  Dr.  Kichard  S.  Storrs,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of  the 
American  Board,  impressively  suggest  the  likeness 
of  our  own  generation  to  the  Apostolic  Age  as  a 
time  for  world-wide  preaching  of  the  Gospel :  ^'I 
cannot  think  it  exaggeration  to  say,  in  view  of  the 
changes  thus  occurring  within  the  century,  that 
the  astonishing  preparation  of  the  world  for  the 
first  proclamation  of  the  Master  in  it  is  now  fol- 
lowed, if  not  surpassed,  by  a  majestic  prepara- 
tion of  mankind  for  such  a  testimony  to  be  given 
to  Him  as  hitherto  no  dream  of  the  heart  has 
imagined  to  be  possible.  .  .  .  The  marvelous 
secular  progress  of  mankind  in  the  last  eighty 
years,  the  unexpected  advancements  or  recessions 
of  states^,  with  the  closer  connections  arising  be- 
tween them,  and  the  opening  of  all  lands  to  the 
moral  forces  dominant  in  Christendom — these  give 
an  equally  majestic  opportunity,  in  our  time,  for 
the  furthest  and  swiftest  exhibition  of  Him  in 
whom  the  world  has  its  help  and  its  hope.  Grad- 
ual preparation,  ultimating  in  sudden  consumma- 
tion, is  often  God^s  method  in  history.  It  was 
so  before  the  coming  of  the  Master.  It  was  so  be- 
fore the  conversion  of  the  Empire.  It  was  so,  sig- 
76 


ACHIEVEMENTS    OF    THE    EARLY    CHRISTIANS 

nally,  before  the  Reformation.     It  seems  to  be  so 
in  our  daj."^ 

It  should  be  emphasized  once  more,  however, 
that  what  was  achieved  by  the  Apostolic  Church 
was  due  not  so  much  to  the  prevailing  external 
conditions  as  to  the  equipment  of  the  workers  and 
their  conception  of  their  work,  and  that  in  all 
these  essential  respects  we  may  be  like  the  Chris- 
tians of  those  days.  Making  allowance  for  mirac- 
ulous gifts,  what  vitally  important  method  did  the 
early  Christians  employ  which'  cannot  be  used  to- 
day ?  Of  what  power  did  they  avail  themselves 
which  we  cannot  utilize  ?  The  essential  aim  and 
character  of  the  missionary  work  in  both  periods 
remain  the  same.  The  program  of  Christianity 
has  not  changed.  The  Gospel  is  the  same.  The 
Word  of  God  is  still  quick  and  powerful.  The 
power  of  prayer  has  not  been  diminished.  ''  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  same  yesterday  and  to-day,  yea  and 
forever  "  and  abides  even  unto  the  end  of  the  age 
with  all  those  who  go  forth  to  represent  Him. 
Man  is  still  the  weak  instrument  whom  God 
uses,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  is  still  the  inexhaustible 
source  of  power.  Surely  Bishop  Thoburn  is  right 
when  he  says  :  '*  If  we  could  bring  back  the 
Church  of  Pentecost  to  earth,  or,  rather,  if  we 
'  ''  Commemorative  Volume,"  52. 
77 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

could  receive  anew  universally  the  spirit  of  that 
model  Church  of  all  ages,  the  idea  of  evangeliz- 
ing the  world  in  a  single  generation  would  no 
longer  appear  visionary ;  but  on  the  other  hand  it 
would  seem  so  reasonable,  so  practicable,  and  the 
duty  to  perform  it  so  imperative,  that  everyone 
would  begin  to  wonder  why  any  intelligent  Chris- 
tians had  ever  doubted  its  possibility,  or  been  con- 
tent to  let  weary  years  go  by  without  a  vast  uni- 
versal movement  throughout  all  the  Churches  of 
Christendom  at  once  to  go  forward  and  complete 
the  task."  1 

*  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 


7d 


THE  POSSIBILITY  OF  EVANGELIZING  THE 
WORLD  IN  THIS  GENERATION  IN  VIEW  OF 
SOME  MODERN   MISSIONARY  ACHIEVEMENTS 

To  consider  a  few  among  the  many  modern 
achievements  of  the  Church  on  mission  fields  will 
serve  to  illustrate  the  possibility  of  evangelizing 
the  world  in  this  generation. 

The  work  in  Manchuria  of  the  Irish  Presbyte- 
rians and  of  the  United  Presbyterians  of  Scotland 
is  a  good  example  of  what  may  be  accomplished 
within  less  than  a  generation  toward  the  evangeli- 
zation of  a  country  by  a  comparatively  small  num. 
ber  of  foreign  workers.  Manchuria  is  about  eight 
hundred  miles  long  and  five  hundred  miles  wide. 
Its  area  is  more  than  eleven  times  as  great  as  that 
of  Ireland,  and  three  times  that  of  the  entire 
British  Isles.  It  has  a  population  estimated  at 
from  15,000,000  to  25,000,000  composed  of  Chi- 
nese and  of  Manchus,  the  race  which  conquered 
China.  Manchuria  might  be  considered  a  colony 
of  China  ;  for  there  has  been  a  constant  stream  of 
79 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

immigration  from  that  empire  for  centuries,  and 
the  Chinese  now  constitute  the  principal  part  of 
the  population.  The  people  have  great  physical  and 
intellectual  vigor  and  are  one  of  the  strongest  races 
in  all  Asia.     Chinese  is  the  prevailing  language. 

Two  Irish  Presbyterian  missionaries  arrived  in 
Manchuria  in  1870,  and  two  from  the  United  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  Scotland  in  1872.  These  de- 
nominations united  their  work  in  a  common  Pres- 
bytery in  1891.  The  number  of  foreign  workers 
has  been  gradually  increased  until  at  the  beginning 
of  1900  there  were  in  both  missions  sixty-six,  in- 
cluding the  wives  of  twenty-one  missionaries.  Ten 
years  ago  there  were  only  about  half  as  many  for- 
eign workers. 

The  Manchurian  field  presented  difficulties  sim- 
ilar to  those  encountered  by  missionaries  in  China. 
When  Dr.  John  Eoss  arrived  in  1872  foreign  resi- 
dence was  allowed  only  at  the  port  of  Newchwang. 
"With  the  help  of  passports,  however,  tours  could 
be  made  in  the  interior.  The  attitude  of  the  na- 
tives was  strongly  hostile,  as  all  foreigners  were 
regarded  with  suspicion.  Both  missionaries  and 
native  Christians  had  to  suffer  many  indignities. 
The  opposition  has  taken  frequently  the  form  of 
severe  persecution.  Especially  trying  were  the 
experiences  of  the  native  Christians  during  the 
80 


MODERN    MISSlOXAIiY    ACHIEVEMENTS 

war  between  Japan  and  China.  The  extreme  con- 
servatism, gross  materialism  and  stolid  indifference 
and  pride  of  the  natives,  as  in  the  case  of  all  parts 
of  China  proper,  have  presented  a  great  barrier  to 
the  work  of  evangelization. 

In  1873  there  were  three  converts.  The  num- 
ber increased  slowly  but  constantly  during  the  first 
twenty  years.  During  that  period  there  was  un- 
wearied and  broadcast  seed  sowing.  By  1895  there 
were  nearly  4,000  baptized  members  of  the  Church. 
Only  two  years  later,  1897,  there  were  over  8,000 
members.  One  year  later  still,  1898,  there  were 
more  than  14,000.  And  the  latest  reports  re- 
ceived show  that  at  the  close  of  1899  the  number 
of  baptized  members  was  about  19,000,  and  the 
number  of  catechumens  nearly  6,000.  The  rate 
of  increase  of  baptized  members  for  the  past  five 
years  has  thus  averaged  fifty  per  cent,  each  year. 

Eev.  William  Hunter,  a  missionary  in  Manchu- 
ria, expresses  the  opinion  that  ^'  about  ten  times 
the  present  membership  have  done  forever  with 
idol  worship,  and  it  is  likely  that  those  who  are 
definitely  moving  towards  Christianity  are  largely 
in  excess  of  that  number,  and  these  may  be  re- 
garded as  intellectually  accepting  as  satisfactory 
the  bottom  truths  of  Christianity."  ^   While  recog- 

*  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 
81 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF   THE   WORLD 

nizing  the  difficulty  of  estimating  such  matters, 
he  considers  it  not  improbable  that  half  of  the 
adult  population  of  the  country  know  that  there  is 
a  Christian  Gospel.  In  1896,  Dr.  Eoss  said  in  a 
personal  interview  that  one-third  of  the  people 
had  heard  of  Christ  and  knew  enough  to  pronounce 
Christianity  the  best  religion.  He  also  stated  in 
an  address  that  ^'  the  Gospel  is  speedily  gaining 
such  a  rapid  diffusion  that  we  may  anticipate  at 
no  distant  date  its  contact  with  every  village  and 
town  in  the  country."  ^  As  far  back  as  seven  years 
one  of  the  missionaries  who  made  a  journey  of  360 
miles  into  the  interior,  over  the  wretched  Man- 
churian  roads,  could  report  that  on  only  one  day 
did  he  fail  to  meet  some  member  of  the  Church. 
There  are  whole  districts  in  which  no  one  is  more 
than  five  miles  from  a  church,  and  there  are 
doubtless  very  few  people  in  any  of  these  districts 
who  do  not  know  of  the  existence  of  one  of  these 
churches  or  chapels.  Another  missionary,  report- 
ing a  tour  of  last  year,  records  that  he  visited  one 
town  of  whose  existence  the  missionaries  had  been 
ignorant  and  found  thirty-six  inquirers.  At  the 
next  place,  although  no  missionary  had  ever  visited 
it,  he  found  not  only  many  inquirers  but  also  a 
Christian  chapel — the  result  of  the  work  of  a  na- 
»  "  The  Evangelization  of  China,"  49. 
82 


MODEKN    MISSIONARY    ACHIEVEMENTS 

tive  convert  who  had  moved  there.  A  little  further 
on  he  entered  another  city  where  also  he  unex- 
pectedly found  a  group  of  Christians.  In  all  Man- 
churia south  of  the  Sungari  River  no  large  town 
and  but  few  hamlets  remain  untouched  by  the 
Gospel.^ 

What  means  were  employed  to  accomplish  these 
results?  We  notice  as  the  first  factor  less  than 
sixty  foreign  missionaries,  the  large  majority  of 
whom  have  been  but  a  few  years  in  the  country. 
A  chain  of  mission  stations  has  been  stretched 
across  the  entire  country  from  Newchwang  to  the 
Sungari,  at  each  of  which  two  or  more  foreign 
missionaries  are  at  work.  Subordinate  to  these 
stations  are  secondary  centers,  each  having  a 
trained  and  capable  native  evangelist.  Around 
these  in  turn  are  many  still  smaller  stations  each 
with  its  preaching  place  or  chapel.  The  mission- 
aries have  devoted  themselves  largely  to  itinerat- 
ing and  to  raising  up,  training  and  directing  a  force 
of  native  workers.  Medical  work  has  been  and  is 
an  effective  means  of  winning  the  people  and 
commending  the  Gospel  to  them.  The  circulat- 
ing of  the  Scriptures  and  other  Christian  litera- 
ture has  done  much  to  help  spread  the  knowledge 

'  Missionary  Record  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Churchy 
Vol.  LIV.,  143. 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF    THE   WORLD 

of  Christ.  The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
has  for  years  given  splendid  co-operation.  Mr. 
Hunter  reckons  that  not  far  from  200,000  book- 
lets are  sold  each  year,  and  that  the  total  number 
sold  must  have  reached  two  millions.  But  the 
principal  and  most  fruitful  means  of  evangeliza- 
tion has  been  the  presentation  of  the  Gospel  by 
preaching  in  chapels  and  by  personal  interviews. 

From  the  beginning  constant  emphasis  has  been 
placed  on  using  native  workers  to  the  fullest  ex- 
tent possible.  The  stations  already  established 
are  so  numerous  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  mis- 
sionaries to  do  more  than  pay  them  hasty  visits. 
Nearly  five  hundred  natives  are  now  at  work  as 
evangelists,  teachers,  colporteurs,  medical  assist- 
ants and  Bible  women.  They  carry  on  the  work 
of  evangelism  far  more  extensively  and  effectively 
than  could  foreigners.  In  spreading  the  Gospel 
the  rank  and  file  of  the  native  Christians  are  a  still 
larger  factor  than  the  native  evangelists.  Dr.  Eoss 
says  that  three-fourths  of  the  church  members 
preach  the  Gospel  every  day  of  their  lives  without 
pay.  Women  come  who  have  been  taught  by  their 
husbands,  and  whole  families  who  are  led  by  one 
member.  This  self-propagating  power  of  the 
Church  is  the  most  hopeful  aspect  of  the  work. 

The  native  Christians  are  also  doing  much  to 
84 


MODEKN    MISSIONAKY    ACHIEVEMENTS 

make  their  work  self-supporting.  They  provide 
their  own  chapels  and  give  increasingly  toward 
the  expenses  of  the  medical,  literary  and  evan- 
gelistic work.  In  1898  they  gave  on  an  average 
the  equivalent  of  a  full  week's  wages  per  mem- 
ber— a  somewhat  remarkable  showing  when  the 
poverty  of  the  people  is  borne  in  mind.^  So 
much  are  they  developing  in  liberality  that  some 
think  that  they  will  be  ready  to  support  pastors 
more  rapidly  than  pastors  can  be  raised  up  and 
trained  for  them  to  support.  The  policy  of  the 
missionaries  in  concentrating  their  efforts  more 
and  more  on  the  preparation  of  native  leaders  is 
eminently  statesmanlike  and  gives  promise  of 
large  results.  With  the  foregoing  facts  in  mind 
who  can  doubt  that  by  a  wise  enlargement  of  the 
agencies  employed  in  Manchuria  such  a  people 
could  be  evangelized  within  a  generation  ? 

Among  the  most  remarkable  triumphs  of  mis- 
sions during  the  past  few  decades  has  been  the 
work  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  in  Uganda. 
Stanley,  in  writing  about  it,  says  :  ^^I  know  of 
few  secular  enterprises,  military  or  otherwise, 
deserving  of  greater  praise."'  ^ 

^  Rev.  William  Hunter,  letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement. 

2  The  Atlantic  Mo?ithly,  October,  1897,  p.  475. 
86 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

Uganda  is  a  country  of  70,000  square  miles 
situated  on  the  north  side  of  Victoria  Njanza. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  populous,  fertile  and  power- 
ful states  of  East  Central  Africa.  The  inhabi- 
tants, called  Waganda,  number  from  a  million 
and  a  half  to  two  millions  and  are  a  strong  people. 

In  1875  Stanley  sent  a  letter  to  The  Daily  Tele- 
graph of  London  appealing  to  Christians  to  es- 
tablish a  mission  in  Uganda.  AVithin  two  days 
the  Church  Missionary  Society  received  an  offer 
of  $25,000  on  condition  that  it  would  undertake 
the  enterprise.  The  fund  soon  increased  to  $75,- 
000.  In  1876  the  first  party  of  missionaries  was 
sent  out.  Some  of  their  number  died  and  two 
were  killed  before  they  reached  their  destinatioiL 
Two  of  them  reached  Uganda  in  1877,  and  were 
welcomed  with  honors  by  the  king.  The  mission 
had  up-hill  work  for  thirteen  years.  During  this 
early  period  Alexander  Mackay  was  the  principal 
and,  at  times,  the  only  foreign  worker.  As  late 
as  1890  when  an  appeal  was  made  for  reinforce- 
ments there  were  only  four  missionaries  in  the 
country.  The  number  has  since  been  steadily 
growing  until  now  there  are  twenty.  If  laymen, 
wives  of  missionaries  and  other  women  workers 
are  added,  the  total  foreign  force  is  about  sixty. 

The  obstacles  encountered  by  missionaries  in 
86 


MODERN   MISSIONARY    ACHIEVEMENTS 

Uganda  were  many.  The  inaccessibility  of  the 
field  has  made  it  extremely  difficult  for  workers  to 
reach  the  country  and  to  secure  necessary  supplies. 
The  fact  that  the  missionaries  were  falsely  charged 
by  Arab  traders  with  having  political  designs  has 
been  at  times  a  drawback  to  their  work.  The 
Christians  have  frequently  been  subjected  to  per- 
secution. Bishop  Hannington,  on  his  arrival  on 
the  borders  of  the  country  in  1885,  was  murdered 
by  order  of  the  king.  In  the  following  year  the 
persecution  was  especially  fierce,  threatening  the 
extirpation  of  Christianity.  Some  native  Chris- 
tians were  horribly  mutilated  or  hacked  to  pieces. 
Others  were  tortured  and  then  roasted  alive. 
Thirty-two  were  slowly  burned  to  death  on  one 
great  pyre.  Probably  two  hundred  native  Chris- 
tians and  adherents  perished,  but  it  is  said  that 
none  renounced  their  faith. 

The  extreme  conceit  of  the  Waganda  and  the 
prevalence  among  them  of  laziness,  falsehood,  lust, 
hatred,  murder  and  barbarous  practices  rendered 
Uganda  an  unpromising  field.  Polytheism,  witch- 
craft and  countless  superstitions  had  a  strong  hold 
on  all  classes.  The  missionaries  were  obliged  to  re- 
duce the  language  to  writing  and  to  develop  an  en- 
tire Christian  vocabulary.  Add  to  all  these  dif- 
ficulties the  opposition  of  Islam  and  the  plotting 
87 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOKLD 

of  the  Eomanists,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
evangelization  of  Uganda  was  a  most  arduous  task. 
It  makes  the  achievements  of  die  Christian  work- 
ers there  seem  all  the  more  striking. 

In  1882,  five  years  after  the  missionaries  reached 
Uganda,  they  had  their  first  baptisms.  Up  to  the 
end  of  the  seventh  year  less  than  a  hundred  had 
been  baptized.  In  1890  the  tide  began  to  rise 
more  rapidly.  Bishop  Tucker  had  meetings  in 
1891  which  were  so  largely  attended  that  the  crush 
reminded  him  of  Exeter  Hall.  When  the  cathe- 
dral was  dedicated  in  the  following  year  the  audi- 
ence numbered  nearly  4,000.  In  1893,  during  a 
great  revival  led  by  Pilkington,  hundreds  were 
converted.  The  influence  of  this  revival  extended 
far  and  wide  in  different  directions.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  1894  there  were  only  twenty  country 
chapels,  but  by  the  end  of  that  year  the  number 
had  increased  to  200.  In  1895,  when  Bishop 
Tucker  made  his  next  visit,  he  found  the  work 
established  at  ten  stations,  and  200  buildings 
thronged  with  worshippers  or  seekers  every  Sun- 
day, most  of  them  on  week  days  also.  During  the 
eight  months  of  his  stay  he  confirmed  2,052  candi- 
dates in  communities  reaching  to  the  west  200 
miles  from  Mengo  to  Toro,  and  on  the  islands  of 
the  lake. 

88 


MODERN    MISSIONARY   ACHIEVEMENTS 

When  Pilkington  was  in  England  in  1896  he 
was  able  to  write  :  "  A  hundred  thousand  souls 
brought  into  close  contact  with  the  Gospel — half 
of  them  able  to  read  for  themselves  ;  200  buildings 
raised  by  native  Christians  in  which  to  worship 
God  and  read  His  word  ;  200  native  evangelists  and 
teachers  entirely  supported  by  the  Native  Church  ; 
10,000  copies  of  the  New  Testament  in  circulation  ; 
6,000  souls  eagerly  seeking  daily  instruction  ;  sta- 
tistics of  baptism,  of  confirmation,  of  adherents, 
of  teachers,  more  than  doubling  yearly  for  the  last 
six  or  seven  years,  ever  since  the  return  of  the 
Christians  from  exile  ;  the  power  of  God  shown  by 
changed  lives  ;  and  all  this  in  the  center  of  the 
thickest  spiritual  darkness  in  the  world  !  .  .  . 
*  The  World  to  be  evangelized  in  this  generation ' — 
can  it  be  done  ?  Kyagwe,  a  province  fifty  miles 
square,  has  had  the  Gospel  preached,  by  lip  and  life, 
through  almost  every  village  in  the  space  of  one 
short  year,  by  some  seventy  native  evangelists,  un- 
der the  supervision  of  only  two  Europeans  :  more 
than  2,000  square  miles  and  only  two  Europeans  ! 
The  teacher  on  Busi  has  by  this  time  probably  ac- 
complished his  purpose  of  visiting  every  house  in 
that  island  with  the  message  of  Salvation  on  his 
lips.  Soon  we  may  hope  that  there  will  be  no 
house  left  in  Uganda  that  has  not  had  God's  mes- 
89 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF   THE   WORLD 

sage  brought  thus  to  its  very  threshold."^  In 
1899  there  were  over  400  churches,  more  than 
17,000  baptized  members,  and  nearly  900  native 
agents.  Ethiopia  has  indeed  stretched  forth  her 
hands  nnto  God. 

In  speaking  at  the  Student  Volunteer  Con- 
vention in  Liverpool,  Pilkington  gave  a  valuable 
estimate,  based  on  experience,  as  to  the  proportion 
of  foreign  and  native  workers  required  to  evangel- 
ize the  regions  surrounding  Uganda.  He  said : 
'^  From  various  places  in  Uganda  openings  can  be 
made  into  the  vast  country  beyond.  The  popula- 
tion in  an  area  comprising  200  miles  radius  all 
around  Uganda  is  10,000,000,  or  one-twentieth  of 
the  whole  population  of  Africa,  and  this  could  be 
evangelized  in  three  years  if  there  were  missionary 
stations  all  over  the  country,  at  a  distance  of  fifty 
miles  from  each  other  in  every  direction,  each  one 
supporting  one  European  missionary  and  100 
native  helpers.^'  ^ 

What  is  the  secret  of  the  wonderful  success 
achieved  in  Uganda  ?  The  persevering,  self-deny- 
ing lives  of  missionaries  like  Mackay  and  Pilking- 
ton, and  the  martyr  deaths  of  Hannington  and  of 

>  Charles  F.  Harford-Battersby,  *'  Pilkiagton  of  Uganda," 
272,  273,  280. 

2  "Make  Jesus  King,"  206,  207. 

90 


MODERN    MISSIONARY    ACHIEVEMENTS 

scores  of  native  Christians  must  be  reckoned  as  an 
important  cause.  '^  Except  a  grain  of  wheat  fall 
into  the  earth  and  die,  it  abideth  by  itself  alone  ; 
but  if  it  die,  it  beareth  mnch  fruit."  ^  Wise  use 
has  been  made  of  different  forms  of  missionary 
work.  The  printed  word  of  God  has  exerted  an 
immense  influence.  Much  of  the  time  the  demand 
for  the  Scriptures  has  been  far  greater  than  could 
be  satisfied,  although  the  New  Testament  sold  at 
a  price  equivalent  to  the  cost  of  a  man's  food  for 
two  months. 

The  native  Church  has  accomplished  by  far  the 
larger  part  of  the  work.  Hundreds  of  native 
preachers  and  teachers  have  been  hard  at  work  for 
years  spreading  the  knowledge  of  Christ.  To-day, 
as  we  have  seen,  their  number  is  well  nigh  a  thou- 
sand. Scores  of  these  leaders  are  men  who  refused 
chieftainships  in  order  that  they  might  devote 
themselves  to  proclaiming  the  Gospel  to  their  own 
countrymen.  Their  labors  have  not  been  confined 
to  the  main  centers.  They  have  pressed  out  in- 
creasingly into  the  country  districts.  Not  a  few 
might  be  regarded  as  foreign  missionaries ;  for 
they  are  working  in  regions  beyond  Uganda,  and 
are  supported  by  their  fellow  Christians.  Altli ough 
England  has  given  the  country  its  missionary 
1  St  Joha  xii.  24. 
91 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF   THE  WOELD 

leaders  and  its  version  of  the  Bible,  the  native 
workers  are  supported  and  the  churches  are  built 
by  the  Waganda  themselves.  Doubtless  the  deep- 
est secret  of  the  spiritual  movement,  which  has 
been  going  on  notably  during  the  last  seven  years, 
is  the  fact  that  the  leaders  came  to  recognize  their 
absolute  insufficiency  to  meet  the  need  of  the 
people  and  yielded  themselves  to  the  mighty  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  study  of  this  example  forces  upon  one  the 
conviction  that  if  so  small  a  number  of  workers 
could  accomplish  so  much  in  a  few  years,  all 
Uganda  might  be  easily  evangelized  within  a  gen- 
eration. Moreover,  if  the  obstacles  to  evangeliza- 
tion have  been  overcome  to  such  an  extent  in  that 
country,  they  can  be  surmounted  in  all  parts  of 
Africa.  If  the  Christian  Church  would  put  forth 
her  energies,  it  is  not  incredible  that  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  entire  Dark  Continent  might  in  this 
generation  be  given  an  adequate  opportunity  to 
know  Christ.  While  external  difficulties  to 
evangelization  may  be  different  among  the  people 
of  other  continents  and  races  from  what  we  have 
found  them  to  be  in  the  heart  of  Africa,  the  essen- 
tial factors  in  the  problem  are  the  same  the  world 
over.  Who  can  set  a  limit  to  the  achievements 
of  men  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God,  who,  wielding 
99 


MODERN   MISSIONARY   ACHIEVEMENTS 

the  force  of  prayer^  go  forth  to  preach  Christ 
where  He  has  not  been  named. 

In  the  work  of  evangelizing  the  world  the 
native  Church  must  have  a  large  part.  It  is 
necessary  to  raise  up  and  train  men  and  women  to 
lead  these  forces.  This  is  the  great  aim  of  educa- 
tional missionary  work.  The  problem  is  not  only 
to  increase  the  number  of  native  leaders,  but  also 
to  develop  workers  who  will  be  strong  and  safe 
leaders  of  their  people. 

The  Presbyterian  College  at  Teng-chou  Fu, 
China,  is  a  good  example  of  an  institution  which 
is  helping  to  solve  this  problem.  From  the  first 
it  has  stood  for  quality  rather  than  for  numbers. 
For  over  thirty  years  Dr.  Calvin  Mateer  and  his 
wife  devoted  the  best  energies  of  their  lives  to  the 
comparatively  small  number  of  young  men  ad- 
mitted to  the  college.  They  made  much  of  per- 
sonal contact  with  the  students  and  estimated  that 
they  could  personally  and  deeply  influence  but 
about  sixty  at  a  time.  The  students  were  care- 
fully selected  and  were  kept  as  a  rule  for  several 
years.  The  education  given  was  very  thorough. 
The  spirit  and  teaching  of  the  college  were  mark- 
edly Christian.  Every  one  of  the  120  graduates 
has  been  a  pronounced  Christian,  and  almost  all 
of  them,  as  well  as  a  number  of  other  students 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

who  went  out  before  graduation,  are  engaged  in 
direct  Christian  work  as  teachers,  pastors,  evan- 
gelists and  physicians.  They  occupy  positions  of 
influence  from  Manchuria  on  the  North  to  the 
southernmost  province  of  China.  It  is  said  that 
every  high  school  north  of  the  Yangtse  has  one 
or  more  Teng-chou  graduates  among  its  teachers. 
The  University  at  Peking  has  six  of  them  in  its 
faculty  and  the  Imperial  University  at  Nanking 
has  three.  Thus  this  college  is  teaching  the  teach- 
ers, and  indirectly  as  well  as  directly  is  exerting 
an  immense  influence  on  the  extension  of  Christ^s 
Kingdom  among  the  Chinese.  If  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Mateer  had  done  nothing  more  than  to  make  pos- 
sible these  results,  they  would  have  accomplished 
a  mighty  work  toward  the  evangelization  of 
China. 

Another  example  of  fruitful  educational  mis- 
sionary effort  was  the  work  a  generation  since 
of  Miss  Eliza  Agnew  of  the  American  Board  in  the 
girl's  boarding  school  at  Oodooville,  Ceylon.  Dur- 
ing her  forty-one  years  of  continuous  service, 
fully  600  girls  were  graduated.  Although  a  ma- 
jority of  them  came  from  heathen  homes  every 
one  went  out  from  the  school  a  professing  Chris- 
tian. Hundreds  of  others  who  did  not  graduate 
were  also  led  to  Christ.  Nearly  all  of  them  be- 
94 


MODERN   MISSIONARY   ACHIEVEMENTS 

came  leading  women  in  their  home  communities. 
Twenty-five  became  Bible  readers,  thirty-nine 
teachers  in  boarding  schools,  twenty-one  teachers 
in  village  schools,  143  married  native  pastors  and 
teachers  and  166  became  wives  of  government 
officials  and  other  educated  men.  What  an 
achievement  for  one  worker  in  one  generation  ! 

The  faithful  teachers  of  Oodooville  and  Teng- 
chou  Fu  are  not  isolated  examples.  There  are 
to-day  scores  of  men  and  women  of  like  conse- 
cration, purpose  and  persistency  who  have  molded 
or  are  now  quietly,  patiently  and  prayerfully 
molding  the  lives  of  thousands  of  young  men  and 
women  in  such  colleges,  schools  and  training  in- 
stitutions as  Duff  College  in  Calcutta,  the  Ba- 
reilly  Theological  Seminary,  the  Woman^s  College 
at  Lucknow,  Pasumalai  College,  Jaffna  College, 
the  Anglo-Chinese  College  at  Foochow,  the  Train- 
ing College  at  Tung  Cho,  the  True  Light  Semi- 
nary at  Canton,  the  Woman's  College  at  Naga- 
saki, the  Doshisha,  the  Euphrates  College,  the 
Central  Turkey  College  at  Aintab,  the  Training 
College  at  Asyut,  the  Syrian  Protestant  College 
at  Beirut  and  many  others  which  have  been  or 
are  strongholds  and  propagating  centers  for  Chris- 
tianity. Who  can  measure  the  possibilities  of 
these  institutions  of  higher  learning,  if  their 
95 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

students  are  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  Christ  and 
with  a  passion  for  the  evangelization  of  the 
world  ? 

The  Moravian  Church  has,  in  proportion  to  its 
ability,  done  more  to  extend  Christ's  Kingdom  in 
the  world  than  has  any  other  body  of  Christians. 
As  an  object  lesson  in  the  development  of  the  mis- 
sionary life  of  the  home  Church  it  is  notable,  and 
should  be  a  guide  and  inspiration  to  other  branches 
of  the  Church  of  Christ.  Within  forty  years  after 
the  establishment  of  their  settlement  at  Herrn- 
hut  nearly  two  centuries  ago,  they  had  started 
eighteen  different  foreign  missions.  During  all 
their  history  the  Moravians  have  been  loyal  to  the 
missionary  purpose.  Missions  have  always  had  a 
large  place  in  all  their  plans  and  activities.  They 
have  regarded  this  enterprise,  not  merely  as  an 
incident,  but  as  their  main  business. 

They  have  sent  out  more  than  2,000  of  their 
members  as  foreign  missionaries.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  1899  they  had  379  missionaries  (men  and 
women),  or  one  in  sixty-six  of  the  communicant 
members  of  their  home  churches  in  Europe  and 
America.  Their  young  men  and  young  women 
are  trained  to  look  upon  service  abroad  as  a  privi- 
lege. No  urgency  is  required.  It  is  never  difficult 
to  secure  recruits.  One  of  the  secretaries  of  the 
96 


MODERN   MISSIONARY    ACHIEVEMENTS 

Student  Volunteer  Movement  made  an  address  in 
a  Moravian  college  and  appealed  for  volunteers. 
He  was  surprised  when  at  the  close  of  his  address 
the  chairman  of  the  meeting  assured  him  that 
every  student  in  the  college  was  already  practically 
a  volunteer — willing  and  desirous  to  become  a 
foreign  missionary.  Dr.  Augustus  C.  Thompson 
tells  of  the  little  community  of  Konigsfeld  in 
the  Black  Forest  which  has  twenty-one  out  of 
418  of  its  members  engaged  in  foreign  mission 
service.^ 

In  1898  the  members  of  the  Moravian  Church 
gave  to  foreign  missions  nearly  $80,000.^  This 
does  not  include  the  amount  contributed  to  their 
work  by  members  of  other  churches.  Thus  the 
Moravians  themselves  give  on  an  average  $2.10 
each.  If  the  members  of  the  Protestant  evangelical 
churches  of  Great  Britain  and  North  America  gave 
in  like  proportion,  their  missionary  contributions 
would  aggregate  over  160,000,000.  Theirs  is  also 
a  praying  Church.  There  is  probably  no  other 
branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ  whose  members 
devote  themselves  so  earnestly  to  intercession  on 
behalf  of  world-wide  missions.     Even  their  hym- 

*  "  Moravian  Missions,"  487,  488. 

'  Periodical  Accounts  Relating  to  the  Moravian  Missions^ 
Sept.,  1899. 

97 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF   THE   WORLD 

nology  to  an  unusual  extent  is  devoted  to  the 
spread  and  triumph  of  Christ's  Kingdom. 

It  is  not  strange  in  view  of  the  self-denial,  con- 
secration and  prayerfulness  of  the  Moravians  at 
home  that  God  has  honored  their  work  abroad. 
From  138  stations  in  twenty-one  provinces,  scat- 
tered throughout  the  four  great  mission  continents 
of  the  world,  they  are  sending  forth  the  Gospel 
light.  They  have  a  force  of  1,839  native  pastors, 
teachers  and  helpers,  and  a  membership  of  96,197 
— or  nearly  three  times  as  many  as  in  all  their 
churches  in  the  home  lands.^  In  many  respects 
they  resemble  the  Church  of  the  first  century.  If 
the  members  of  Protestant  churches  in  the  British 
Isles,  the  United  States  and  Canada,  not  to  men- 
tion other  parts  of  Reformed  Christendom,  de- 
voted themselves  to  the  missionary  enterprise  with 
the  energy  shown  by  the  Moravian  Church,  they 
would  have  a  force  of  nearly  400,000  foreign 
workers.  No  such  number  would  be  required  to 
achieve  the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this 
generation. 

Only  a  few  illustrations  have  been  given  of  recent 
evangelistic  achievements  of  the  Church  in  non- 
Christian  lands.      There  are  others  almost  equally 

»  "The  Text  Book  of  the  Moravian  Church"  (for  1900), 
161, 162. 

98 


MODERN   MISSIONARY    ACHIEVEMENTS 

striking.  The  work  of  the  American  Baptists 
among  the  Karens  reads  like  the  record  of  a  war 
of  conquest.  The  wonderful  Telugu  revival  in 
the  Lone  Star  Mission,  after  nearly  a  generation 
of  quiet  work,  still  serves  to  lift  the  faith  of  the 
Church.  The  first  twenty  years  of  the  Gossner 
Mission  among  the  Kols  presents  an  impressive 
example  of  evangelization  in  the  midst  of  the 
difficulties  of  another  Indian  field.  The  achieve- 
ments of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  and  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Tin- 
nevelly,  especially  in  view  of  the  prominent  part 
taken  by  native  Christians,  abound  in  instruc- 
tive lessons  as  to  how  to  hasten  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  India.  The  mass  movement  carried  on 
among  the  outcasts  of  Northern  India  by  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  unquestionably 
a  work  of  God  and  has  brought  the  Gospel 
to  a  vast  multitude  of  people.  Difficult  as 
is  the  problem  of  the  evangelization  of  Moham- 
medans, there  is  much  of  encouragement  in  the 
work  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  Arabia.  Even 
more  remarkable  in  this  connection  have  been  the 
triumphs  of  the  Rhenish  Mission  in  Sumatra, 
where  over  2,000  Mohammedans  have  already  ac- 
knowledged Christ,  and  where  we  find  the  largest 
congregation  of  converted  Mohammedans  in  the 
99 


The  evangelization  of  the  woeld 

world.  The  Norwegian  Lutherans,  as  well  as  the 
London  Missionary  Society,  have  accomplished  a 
work  of  evangelization  in  parts  of  Madagascar 
which  is  worthy  of  the  most  careful  study.  The 
Livingstonia  Mission  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land ranks  in  many  respects  with  the  Uganda 
mission  as  suggesting  the  secret  of  the  wide-spread 
evangelization  of  the  Dark  Continent.  Nor 
should  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Mission  at 
Luebo  in  the  heart  of  Africa  be  forgotten  in 
mentioning  those  which  have  had  a  large  fruit- 
age. The  United  Presbyterians  have  covered  the 
Lower  Nile  Valley  with  a  net-work  of  evangelistic 
agencies.  After  many  years  of  deep  preparatory 
work  in  the  Fukien  Province  by  the  American 
Board,  the  Reformed  Church,  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  and  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,  the  past  few  years  have  witnessed  the 
greatest  ingathering  in  the  history  of  missions  in 
China.  The  China  Inland  Mission  in  thrusting 
forth  its  hundreds  of  light-bearers  into  the  un- 
broken darkness  of  the  interior  of  China,  not  only 
has  been  preaching  Christ  to  those  who  had  never 
heard  of  Him,  but  also  has  stimulated  the  entire 
Church  to  more  prayerful  and  aggressive  effort. 
The  Gospel  is  being  preached  to  the  unevangel- 
ized  with  great  success  in  Korea  at  the  present 
100 


MODERN    MISSIONARY    ACHIEVEMENTS 

time  by  the  Presbyterians.     The  Russian  Church 
Mission  in  Japan,  under  the   leadership  of  the 
able  Archbishop  Nicolai,  has  done  a  work  which 
is  not  without  its  important  lessons  to  Protestant 
societies.      The   evangelization   of  the   Hawaiian 
Islands  by  the  Congregationalists  and  of  the  Fiji     | 
group  by  the  Wesleyans  should  strengthen  and 
enlarge  the  faith  of  every  Christian  in  the  power     i 
of  the  Gospel  to  reach  and  transform  the  most   a 
benighted  and  degraded. 

To  realize  how  the  evangelization  of  the  world 
has  been  hastened  by  the  labors  of  the  medical 
missionaries,  one  need  only  recall  the  Eanaghat 
Medical  Mission  in  Bengal,  the  work  of  Dr.  Clark 
at  Amritsar,  the  marvelous  record  of  the  Tientsin 
Hospital,  the  abundant  labors  of  Dr.  Kerr  at 
Canton  and  Dr.  Post  at  Beirut  and  the  Christ-like 
ministry  of  many  other  medical  missionaries  in 
all  parts  of  the  world  field. 

Nor  should  we  overlook  the  vital  relation  which 
literary  work  has  had  and  always  will  have  to  the 
evangelization  of  the  world.  The  patient  and 
thorough  work  of  the  hundreds  of  missionaries 
who  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  translation  of 
the  Scriptures  and  Christian  literature,  the  cease- 
less activity  of  scores  of  mission  presses  like  those 
at  Beirut,  Shanghai  and  Calcutta,  and  the  work 
101 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

of  the  Bible  societies  in  all  lands,  have  multiplied 
the  power  and  influence  of  all  other  agencies, 
and  have  sown  the  seed  of  the  Kingdom  far  and 
wide. 

It  should  be  noted  also  that  there  are  a  great 
many  fields  where  the  evangelistic  efforts  of  the 
missionaries  have  not  yet  been  attended  with  large 
visible  results.  Scattered  all  over  the  world  are 
thousands  of  missionaries,  whose  names  are  not 
associated  with  conspicuous  success,  but  who, 
nevertheless,  have  been  proclaiming  Christ  with  a 
faithfulness,  thoroughness  and  heroism  fully  equal 
to  that  which  has  characterized  the  more  promi- 
nent workers.  They  also  are  an  essential  factor 
in  the  world^s  evangelization  ;  and  both  they  that 
sow  and  they  that  reap  shall  rejoice  together.  In 
view  of  the  extent  to  which  the  Gospel  has  already 
been  thoroughly  preached,  whether  with  or  with- 
out apparent  results,  by  a  comparatively  small 
number  of  workers,  it  seems  reasonable  to  believe 
that  by  a  judicious  increase  and  proper  distribu- 
tion of  all  missionary  agencies  which  have  com- 
mended themselves  to  the  Church,  an  adequate 
opportunity  to  know  Christ  as  Saviour  and  Lord 
might  be  given  to  all  people  within  our  day.  In 
the  words  of  a  veteran  Indian  missionary,  ^'The 
largeness  of  God's  blessing  on  the  puny  efforts 
103 


MODERN   MISSIONARY   ACHIEVEMENTS 

already  made  for  evangelizing  the  heathen,  dem- 
onstrate beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt,  that  we 
are  well  able  to  evangelize  the  ivliole  world  in  a 
single  generation/'^ 

J  Dr.  R.   G.  Wilder  in    The   Missionary    Rtview,   Vol 

vni.,  14. 


103 


YI 


THE  POSSIBILITY  OF  EVANGELIZING  THE 
WORLD  IN  THIS  GENERATION  IN  VIEW  OF 
THE  OPPORTUNITIES,  FACILITIES  AND  RE- 
SOURCES  OF  THE   CHURCH 

It  would  seem  that  there  is  no  sufficient  ground 
for  doubting  the  ability  of  the  Church  to-day  to 
give  the  whole  world  the  opportunity  to  know  and 
to  accept  Christ.  The  fact  that  no  generation  has 
evangelized  the  world  is  not  satisfactory  proof  that 
it  might  not  have  been  done.  Still  less  are  we  to 
measure  the  present  ability  of  the  Church  by  the 
standards  and  practice  of  a  Church  in  the  past  not 
awake  to  her  duty  to  the  non-Christian  world  and 
under  far  less  favorable  conditions  for  world-wide 
missionary  operations.  The  power  of  the  Church 
has  not  yet  been  put  to  the  real  test.  It  seems 
hardly  right  to  call  a  thing  impossible  or  impracti- 
cable which  has  not  been  attempted.  Livingstone 
said  in  a  letter  written  from  the  interior  of  Africa 
not  long  before  his  death,  ^^  You  don't  know  what 
you  can  do,  until  you  try.''  ^  The  world-wide 
'  Douglas  M.  Thornton,  "Africa  Waiting,"  141. 
7M 


RESOURCES    OF    THE    CHURCH 

proclamation  of  the  Gospel  awaits  accomplishment 
by  a  generation  which  shall  have  the  obedience, 
courage  and  determination  to  attempt  the  task. 

Viewed  from  a  human  standpoint,  the  evangeli- 
zation of  the  world  in  this  generation  may  not 
seem  probable ;  but  the  contention  is  that  it  is 
entirely  possible.  Instead  of  assuming  that  this  is 
impossible  we  should  remember  that  God  never 
has  imposed  upon  the  Church  an  impossible  task. 
His  commands  are  His  enablings.  A  survey  of  the 
opportunities  and  resources  of  the  Church  and  the 
facilities  at  her  disposal  will  make  it  plain  that  she 
is  more  favorably  situated  in  this  than  she  has  been 
in  any  preceding  generation  for  the  evangelization 
of  the  world. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  Church 
practically  the  whole  world  is  open.  The  marvel- 
ous orderings  of  Providence  during  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  notably  during  the  past  fifty  years, 
have  set  before  the  Church  the  open  doors  for 
which  Christians  for  generations  have  been  pray- 
ing. We  are  not  justified  in  saying  that  there  is  a 
single  country  on  the  face  of  the  earth  where  the 
Church,  if  she  seriously  desires,  cannot  send  am- 
bassadors for  Christ  to  proclaim  His  message.  If 
it  be  said  that  we  ought  not  to  force  our  way  but 
to  wait  for  Providential  openings,  it  should  be  an- 
100       ' 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOELD 

swered  that  neither  ought  we  to  neglect  embracing 
the  opportunities  which  God  has  already  placed 
before  ns.  Well  did  Carey  exclaim,  *'  What  open- 
ings of  Providence  do  we  wait  for  ?  We  can 
neither  expect  to  be  transported  into  the  heathen 
world  without  ordinary  means,  nor  to  be  endowed 
with  the  gift  of  tongues,  &c.,  when  we  arrive  there. 
These  would  not  be  Providential  interpositions, 
but  miraculous  ones.  Where  a  command  exists 
nothing  can  be  necessary  to  render  it  binding  but 
a  removal  of  those  obstacles  which  render  obedience 
impossible,  and  these  are  removed  already.  Natu- 
ral impossibility  can  never  be  pleaded  so  long  as 
facts  exist  to  prove  the  contrary. '*  ^ 

It  should  be  noticed  also  that  there  is  no  insu- 
perable obstacle  to  world-wide  evangelization  so 
far  as  the  ability  of  the  heathen  to  understand  the 
Gospel  is  concerned.  The  history  of  missions, 
even  among  the  lowest  types  of  humanity,  demon- 
strates the  truth  of  the  statement  of  Bishop  Sel- 
wyn,  made  after  many  years  of  observation  and 
experience  among  the  degraded  inhabitants  of  the 
islands  of  the  Southern  Seas,  '^  that  all  mankind 
are  endued  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  God's  own 
time,  with  a  sufficient  measure  of  capacity  to  re- 

*  *'  An  Enquiry  into  the  Obligations  of  Christians  to  Use 
Means  for  the  Conversion  of  the  Heathens,"  11. 
106 


EESOURCES    OF    THE    CHURCH 

ceive  everything  that  is  necessary  for  the  salvation 
of  their  sonls ;  that  there  is  no  one  single  human 
being  on  the  face  of  God's  earth  who  is  shut  out 
from  the  promises  of  the  Gospel  by  any  difference 
of  intellectual  or  of  moral  capacity/' ^  This  does 
not  mean  that  all  men  will  accept  the  Gospel,  but 
that  all  men  are  capable  of  receiving  it.  Many, 
doubtless,  will  not  accept  it  should  the  opportu- 
nity be  presented.  Even  in  Christ's  own  day,  in 
face  of  His  direct  teachings  and  mighty  works, 
many  did  not  yield  to  the  truth.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  every  place  where  Christ  has  been  faith- 
fully presented  some  have  accepted  Him.  There- 
fore whether  men  heed  the  Gospel  call  or  not,  it  is 
to-day  possible  to  bring  it  to  their  attention. 

In  considering  the  Church's  present  power 
of  achievement  we  should  take  account  of  the 
facilities  at  her  disposal.  Among  these  may  be 
mentioned,  in  the  first  place,  the  work  of  the  geo- 
graphical societies.  There  are  not  less  than  eighty- 
three  geographical  societies  with  a  membership 
of  50,000,  and  153  geographical  journals.^  A 
hundred  years  ago  nearly  one-third  of  the  globe 
was   absolutely  unknown.     At  the   beginning   of 

'  H.  W.  Tucker,  "Memoir  of  the  Life  and  Episcopate  of 
George  Augustus  Selwyn,  D.D.,"  11. ,  296. 

2 Hugh  Robert  Mill,  in  "  The  International  Geography,"  12. 
107 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

Queen  Victoria's  reign  practically  nothing  was 
known  of  the  interior  of  China  and  Japan,  Central 
Asia,  Tibet  and  Afghanistan.  As  late  as  1880 
the  interior  of  Africa  was  almost  a  blank,  yet 
within  twelve  years  the  country  was  quite  fully 
mapped  out.  The  recent  explorations  of  Dr.  Sven 
Hedin  and  others  have  unveiled  much  of  Central 
Asia.  So  to-day  practically  all  of  the  inhabited 
portions  of  the  earth  are  known  to  civilization. 
This  is  a  distinct  help  to  the  Church.  At  the 
same  time  it  has  enlarged  her  responsibility.  The 
words  of  Carey  are  to  the  point :  '^  It  was  not  the 
duty  of  Paul  to  preach  Christ  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Otaheite,  because  no  such  place  was  then  dis- 
covered, nor  had  he  any  means  of  coming  at  them. 
But  none  of  these  things  can  be  alleged  by  us  in 
behalf  of  the  neglect  of  the  commission  given  by 
Christ.^'  1 

The  knowledge  of  the  social,  moral  and  spiritual 
condition  and  need  of  all  races  of  mankind  which 
the  Church  now  possesses  should  greatly  facilitate 
her  work  on  behalf  of  the  world.  The  one  fact, 
for  example,  that  the  non-Christian  religions  have 
been  found  wanting  in  Divine  authority,  power 
and  fruitfulness  should  and  will  help  to  make 

*  "  An  Enquiry  into  the  Obligations  of  Christians  to  Use 
Means  for  the  Conversion  of  the  Heathens,"  10. 
108 


RESOURCES   OF   THE    CHURCH 

Christians    realize    their    responsibility    to    the 
world. 

The  greatly  enlarged  and  improved  means  of 
communication  constitutes  one  of  the  chief  facili- 
ties of  which  the  Church  of  this  generation  can 
avail  herself.  Of  the  454,730  miles  of  railway  in 
the  world  a  considerable  mileage  is  already  to  be 
found  in  non-Christian  lands.^  It  is  possible,  for 
example,  to  go  by  rail  to  many  parts  of  India, 
Japan  and  South  America.  The  greatest  railway 
enterprises  of  the  time  are  those  now  building  or 
projected  in  non-Christian  lands.  The  Siberian 
Railway  will  bring  hundreds  of  millions  of  people 
of  the  Far  East  a  month  nearer  to  the  Christian 
nations  of  Western  Europe.  The  Cape-Cairo  Rail- 
way and  the  lines  being  stretched  from  the  East 
Coast  of  Africa  will  afford  easy  access  to  the  peo- 
ples in  the  interior  of  that  continent.  It  is  not 
improbable  that  links  will  be  supplied  within  a 
few  years  connecting  the  Russian  and  Indian  rail- 
way systems,  thus  bringing  London  and  Calcutta 
within  ten  days  of  each  other.  Still  more  likely  is 
it  that  a  line  will  soon  connect  the  cities  of  the 
Levant  with  some  port  on  the  Persian  Gulf,  thus 
not  only  bringing  India  nearer  us  but  also  open- 
ing up  the  regions  of  Asia  Minor  and  the  Eu- 
»  "Archiv  fur  Eisenbalinwesen  "  (1899),  5U~527. 
109 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF   THE   WORLD 

phrates  Valley.*  At  the  present  time  England, 
America,  Germany,  France,  Belgium,  Italy,  Rus- 
sia and  Japan  are  either  building  or  projecting 
railways  in  China.  Nearly  twenty  concessions  for 
this  purpose  have  been  granted  to  foreign  com- 
panies within  two  years.  When  even  a  part  of 
these  plans  materialize,  as  they  will  within  a  few 
years,  more  than  one-third  of  the  unevangelized 
world  will  be  made  much  more  accessible  than  now 
to  the  missionaries. 

The  extension  and  improvement  of  the  steam- 
ship service  has  benefited  the  Church  as  w^ell  as 
secular  enterprises.  Europe  is  twenty  days  nearer 
America  now  than  sixty  years  ago,  five  days  nearer 
than  twenty  years  ago,  and  two  days  nearer  than 
ten  years  ago.  Sixty  years  ago  it  required  sixty 
days  for  the  mails  to  go  from  Bombay  to  London  ; 
now  it  requires  considerably  less  than  one-third 
that  time.'^  It  took  Carey  nearly  five  months  to 
go  from  Dover  to  Calcutta  in  1793.  One  can  make 
the  trip  now  in  three  weeks.  Judson^s  trip  from 
Salem  to  Calcutta  in  1812  consumed  eleven 
months ;  and  as  late  as  1859  it  took  Bishop  Tho- 
burn  four  months  to  go  from  Lynn  to  Calcutta. 

'  Alexander  Hume  Ford,  "  The  Warfare  of  Railways  in 
Asia,"  in  The  Century,  March,  1900,  pp.  794-800. 
*  Eugene  Stock,  "  The  History  of  the  Church  Missionary 

Society,"  I.,  298. 

110 


EESOURCES    OF    THE    CHURCH 

Now  one  can  go  from  New  York  to  Calcutta  in  a 
month.  Moffat  was  three  months  in  1817  on  the 
way  from  Gravesend  to  CajDe  Town  ;  now  the  voy- 
age lasts  less  than  two  weeks.  These  develop- 
ments mean  an  immense  saving  of  time  to  the 
missionary  force. 

The  cable  and  telegraph  systems  of  the  world 
are  being  used  constantly  by  the  missionary  socie- 
ties and  are  of  the  greatest  service.  There  are 
170,000  miles  of  submarine  cables  which  have  cost 
at  least  1250,000,000.1  All  the  grand  divisions  of 
the  earth  are  connected  by  them.  They  skirt  the 
South  American  continent,  save  the  Southern  ex- 
tremity. They  unite  the  islands  of  the  West  Indies 
and  the  Central  American  States.  Three  lines 
stretch  from  Europe  and  Africa  to  South  America. 
Cables  completely  encircle  Africa.  Four  lines  con- 
nect Europe  with  the  Far  East.  Along  the  East- 
ern coast  of  Asia  the  lines  loop  from  port  to  port 
and  reach  on  to  Japan,  to  the  Philippines,  the 
East  Indies,  Australia  and  New  Zealand.  The 
benighted  nations  of  Asia  and  Africa  are  in  con- 
stant communication  with  enlightened  Europe 
and  America.     Over  6,000,000  cable  messages  are 

'  "  Submarine  and  Land  Telegraphs  of  the  World,"  in  the 
"Monthly   SumDa"ary    of   Commerce   and   Finance    of  the 
United  States,"  No.  7.     Series  1898-99,  pp.  1653-1675. 
Ill 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

transmitted  annually.  Any  important  event  which 
takes  place  at  the  antipodes  in  the  morning  we 
hear  of  in  the  afternoon.  The  land  telegraphs  are 
far  more  extensive.  These  and  the  cable  system 
serve  the  Church  not  only  by  promoting  general 
intelligence  but  also  in  facilitating  the  financial 
transactions  and  administrative  work  of  the  mis- 
sionary societies. 

The  thoroughly  organized  and  highly  developed 
news  agencies  which,  through  the  various  secular 
papers,  bring  before  the  members  of  the  Church 
facts  regarding  the  most  distant  and  needy  nations, 
serve  indirectly  to  awaken  and  to  foster  interest  in 
the  inhabitants  of  less-favored  lands.  They  have 
made  information  about  the  world  general  and  also 
easy  of  acquisition. 

The  Universal  Postal  Union  with  its  wonderful 
organization,  its  vast  army  of  974,314  employees, 
and  1,688,753  miles  of  regular  post  routes,  im- 
mensely facilitates  the  work  of  foreign  missions.^ 
Within  a  few  years  at  the  outside  it  will  include 
within  its  sphere  of  action  practically  all  of  those 
unevangelized  parts  of  the  world  which  have  not 
already  been  brought  within  its  reach. 

As  a  result  of  all  these  means  and  agencies  of 
communication  the  world  has  been  growing  smaller 
»  "  Statistique  G6n6ral  du  Service  Postal "  (for  1897). 
112 


RESOURCES    OF    THE    CHURCH 

and  smaller.  They  have  united,  as  it  were,  the 
separated  continents  into  one  great  nation.  They 
have  made  the  most  remote  and  inaccessible  parts 
of  the  inhabited  world  easily  accessible.  When 
Christ  gave  the  Great  Commission,  the  disciples 
could  not  have  gone  to  the  world  as  we  know  it. 
A  man  now  might  go  around  the  world  five  times 
within  a  year.  Professor  Ramsay  points  out  that 
'^  there  are  no  stronger  influences  in  education  and 
in  administration  than  rapidity  and  ease  of  trav- 
eling and  the  postal  service  ;  Paul  both  by  precept 
and  example  impressed  the  importance  of  both  on 
his  Churches."  ^  The  Church  can  make  more  use 
of  these  valuable  agencies  in  this  generation  than 
at  any  other  time  in  her  history  because  they  are 
vastly  more  extensive  and  highly  developed.  It 
should  be  remembered  also  that  these  facilities,  by 
increasing  our  knowledge  of  the  heathen  and  their 
accessibility,  thereby  have  increased  our  obligation. 

The  printing-press  has  greatly  multiplied  the 
power  of  the  Church  to  disseminate  Christian 
truth.  One  of  the  marvels  of  the  success  of  the 
Church  of  the  first  generation  is  that  so  much 
was  accomplished  without  printed  books.  In 
those  days  few  individuals  owned  a  copy  of  the 
Scriptures.     The  Old  Testament  writings  could  be 

'  *'  St.  Paul  the  Traveller  and  the  Roman  Citizen,"  34. 
113 


a?HE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

found  rarely  outside  the  synagogue.  The  method 
of  spreading  a  knowledge  of  the  Word  of  God  was 
almost  exclusively  by  oral  instruction.  The  Apos- 
tolic writings  came  into  existence  comparatively 
late  and  their  circulation  progressed  slowly.  For 
centuries  after  the  time  of  the  early  Christians,  "  to 
own  a  Bible  was  the  privilege  of  princes,  churches 
and  monasteries.'**  It  required  years  to  write  out 
a  complete  Bible.  Even  sixty  years  ago  printing 
was  done  on  hand  presses  and  only  from  one  to 
two  hundred  impressions  could  be  taken  in  an 
hour.  Now  there  are  presses  which  print,  bind 
and  fold  96,000  papers  in  an  hour.^  The  inven- 
tion of  the  linotype,  the  results  of  which  Glad- 
stone predicted  would  be  '^  equally  extensive  and 
beneficent  to  mankind,"^  enables  one  operator  to 
produce  several  fold  as  much  composed  matter  as 
any  regular  typesetter.  This  and  the  many  other 
improvements  in  the  art  of  printing  have,  to  a  re- 
markable degree,  reduced  the  price  of  books.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  Bibles 
were  very  expensive  and  consequently  were  very 

'Edward  W.  Oilman,  "  The  Hand  of  God  in  the  Circula- 
tion of  the  Bible,"  3,  4. 

5  "  Fifty   Years  in   the   Printing   Business,"  in    Scientific 
American^  July  25,  1896,  pp.  80,  81. 

2  John  Southward,  "  Progress  in  Printing  and  the  Graphic 
Arts  during  the  Victorian  Era,"  57. 
114 


HESOUECES    OF    THE    CHURCH 

scarce.  Carey's  first  Bengali  Bible  sold  at  abont 
120.  A  Bengali  Bible  can  now  be  purchased  for  a 
few  cents.  The  price  lists  of  the  various  Bible 
societies  show  that  in  hundreds  of  languages  the 
New  Testament  can  be  obtained  for  a  mere  pit- 
tance. ISTo  mechanical  or  serious  financial  diiS- 
culty,  therefore,  stands  in  the  way  of  giving  the 
Bible  at  once  to  every  family  under  heaven. 

The  influence  and  protection  of  Christian  gov- 
ernments is  an  immense  help  to  the  work  of  mis- 
sions. In  no  age  in  the  past  could  the  ambassa- 
dors for  Christ  carry  on  their  work  with  such 
safety.  Over  one-third  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
nnevangelized  world  are  under  the  direct  sway  of 
Christian  rulers.  Moreover,  the  Protestant  pow- 
ers are  in  a  position  to  exert  an  influence  that  will 
make  possible  the  free  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to 
the  remaining  two-thirds  of  the  people  of  the  earth 
who  have  not  heard  of  Christ.  The  ability  of 
Christian  nations  shown  in  thus  bringing  the 
world  within  the  range  of  their  influence  is,  as  the 
Bishop  of  Newcastle  says,  "the  measure  of  the 
Church's  responsibility  to  bring  to  them  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ."  ^ 

Medical  knowledge  and  skill  is  one  of  the  chief 
auxiliary  factors  employed  by  the  Church.     Its  in- 

'  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer^  Nov.,  1898,  p.  822. 
115 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

flnence  in  opening  the  hearts  of  the  heathen  to 
hear  the  Gospel  and  as  an  evidence  in  enforcing  its 
claims  is  apparently  almost  as  marked  as  was  the 
exercise  of  miraculous  gifts  in  the  time  of  the 
Apostles.  Medical  and  sanitary  science  are  also  a 
great  boon  in  restoring  and  shielding  the  health 
of  the  growing  missionary  force. 

The  methods  and  results  of  the  study  of  natural 
science  and  of  other  branches  of  Western  learning 
is  one  of  the  mightiest  agencies  at  the  disposal  of 
the  Church.  Its  working  and  power  were  well 
likened  by  Duff  to  that  of  a  vast  mine  beneath  the 
structure  of  heathen  ignorance,  superstition  and 
prejudice.  Such,  emphatically,  is  its  influence  to- 
day in  India,  Japan,  China — in  fact  in  all  lands. 

The  Church  not  only  has  an  unexampled  oppor- 
tunity to  evangelize  the  world,  as  well  as  great 
facilities  at  her  disposal,  but  she  also  possesses 
remarkable  resources.  Think  of  her  membership. 
According  to  Mulhall  there  are  140,000,000  Prot- 
estants.^ In  the  British  Isles,  the  United  States 
and  Canada  alone  there  are  over  25,000,000  evan- 
gelical  Protestant    church    communicants.'^    No 

'  "  The  Dictionary  of  Statistics,"  613. 

» **  Official  Year-Book  of  the  Church  of  England.  1900;  " 
«»rree  Church  Hand-Book"  (for  1899);  ^'The  Scottish 
Church  and  University  Almanac.  1900 ;  "  H.  K.  Carroll, 
116 


RESOUECES    OF    THE    CHURCH 

one  will  question  the  fact  that  among  this  vast 
number  are  millions  of  spiritually-minded  and 
consecrated  men  and  women.  Contrast  the  mil- 
lions of  devoted  Christians,  whose  religion  is  that 
of  the  most  enlightened  nations  of  the  world — 
such  as  Great  Britain,  Germany,  Holland,  the 
Scandinavian  countries,  the  United  States,  Can- 
ada, Switzerland  and  the  Australasian  and  South 
African  colonies — with  the  few  thousands  consti- 
tuting the  small,  unacknowledged  and  despised 
sect  which,  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  began  the 
evangelization  of  the  then  known  and  accessible 
world.  As  we  recall  the  achievements  of  that  in- 
fant Church,  can  we  question  the  ability  of  the 
Christians  of  our  day  so  to  distribute  within  the 
present  generation  the  Gospel  messengers  and 
agencies  that  all  mankind  might  have  a  full  oppor- 
tunity to  know  Christ  as  their  Saviour  and  Lord? 
The  money  power  of  the  Church  is  enormous. 
"The  true  value  of  all  tangible  property  in  the 
United  States  exclusive  of  Alaska,  at  the  close  of 
the  census  period,  1890,  amounted  to  165,037,- 
091,197."^    If  members  of  evangelical  churches 

"  Statistics  of  the  Churches  of  the  United  States"  (for  1899), 
in  The  Christian  Advocate^  March  15,  1900;  "The  Cana- 
dian Almanac  for  the  Year  1900." 

1  "  Report  on  Wealth,  Debt,  and  Taxation  at  the  Eleventh 
Census:  1890,"  Part  II. ,  7. 

117 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF    THE   WORLD 

possessed  a  sum  proportionate  to  their  number, 
which  would  seem  to  be  a  reasonable  inference, 
their  share  was  fully  $13,000,000,000.  Of  this 
great  amount  they  gave  but  one  dollar  out  of  every 
13,287  for  foreign  missions,  or  one-thirty-second 
part  of  one  per  cent.^  Eegardless  of  their  income, 
if  they  had  given  but  one-two-hundredth  part  of 
their  real  and  personal  property,  tlieir  contribu- 
tion to  foreign  missions  would  have  been  over 
$65,000,000,  instead  of  less  than  $4,000,000.  In 
1898  Mr.  Eobert  E.  Speer  estimated  that  the  share 
of  Christians  in  the  wealth  of  America  was  $20,- 
000,000,000,  and  that  perhaps  one-fiftieth  of  what 
the  Church  adds  to  her  wealth  each  year  would 
suflSce,  in  addition  to  what  is  now  given,  to  sup- 
port a  sufficient  number  of  missionaries  to  evan- 
gelize the  world.  2  Mr.  G.  T.  Manley,  of  Cam- 
bridge University,  taking  100,000  as  an  outside 
limit  of  the  number  of  foreign  workers  required, 
and  assuming  that  Britain's  share  would  be  one- 
third,  estimates  that  the  $50,000,000  required  to 
support  them  would  be  far  more  than  supplied  if 
each  communicant  in  Great  Britain  were  to  con- 
tribute four  cents  a  day.^     If  only  one-fourth  of 

'  Josiah  Strong,  "  Our  Country,"  248. 
«"  The  Student  Missionary  Appeal,"  2U. 
'  The  Student  Volunteer  (of  Great  Britain),  March,  1897, 
p.  63. 

118 


RESOURCES    OF    THE    CHURCH 

the  Protestants  of  Europe  and  America  gave  but 
one  cent  a  day  toward  the  evangelization  of  the 
world,  it  would  yield  each  year  a  fund  of  over 
1100,000,000. 

The  giving  to  foreign  missions  has  steadily  in- 
creased throughout  the  century.  Professor  War- 
neck  estimates  that  the  collective  gifts  of  all  Prot- 
estants to  this  object  in  1800  were  probably  not 
over  $75,000.^  In  1899  they  reached  an  aggregate 
of  over  119,000,000.2  To  evangelize  the  world, 
however,  a  much  greater  sum  than  this  would  be 
required,  and,  as  has  been  seen,  the  Churches  sup- 
ply is  abundantly  sufficient  to  meet  the  demand. 
What  is  contributed  comes  from  only  a  small  frac- 
tion of  the  membership  of  the  Church.  The  ex- 
amples of  what  is  being  given  in  different  coun- 
tries by  single  congregations,  Sunday  schools  and 
young  people^s  societies,  the  situation  and  ability 
of  which  are  typical  and  not  exceptional,  prove 
conclusively  that  the  financial  possibilities  of  the 
Church  are  practically  limitless.  Dr.  Josiah 
Strong  twenty  years  ago  wrote  :  '''There  is  money 
enough  in  the  hands  of  Church-members  to  sow 

'''Protestant  Foreign  Missions  at  the  Junction  of  Two 
Centuries  :  1800-1900,"  in  The  Missionary  Review  of  the 
World,  April,  1900,  p.  259. 

'Dennis,  "  Centennial  Statistics,"  17. 

119 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF   THE   WOKLD 

every  acre  of  the  earth  with  the  seed  of  truth. 
.  .  .  God  has  intrusted  to  his  children  power 
enough  to  give  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  by  the 
close  of  this  century  ;  but  it  is  being  misapplied. 
Indeed,  the  world  would  have  been  evangelized 
long  ago,  if  Christians  had  perceived  the  relations 
of  money  to  the  Kingdom,  and  had  accepted  their 
stewardship/'^ 

Among  the  greatest  resources  of  the  Church  are 
the  missionary  societies,  together  with  their  work- 
ers and  agencies  on  the  foreign  field.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  the  nineteenth  century  there  were  six 
Protestant  missionary  organizations.  Dr.  Dennis 
gives  537  as  the  present  number  of  foreign  mission- 
ary societies  and  auxiliaries.^  Professor  Warneck 
expresses  the  opinion  that  there  is  probably  too 
much  home  machinery  and  that  instead  of  in- 
creasing the  number  of  societies  there  should  be 
further  consolidation.^  Without  doubt  there  are 
missionary  organizations  in  sufficient  number  and 
possessing  sufficient  strength  and  experience  to 
guide  an  enterprise  indefinitely  larger  than  the 
present  missionary  operations  of  the  Church. 

In   1800  there  were  only  about  one  hundred 

' »'  Our  Country,"  251. 
'^  "  Centennial  Statistics,"  17,  18, 

^The  Missionary  Review  of  the  Worlds  April,  1900,  p.  259. 
120 


EESOURCES    OF    THE    CHURCH 

foreign  missionaries.  At  the  present  time  there 
are  15,460,  including  women  workers.*  This  in- 
dicates a  gratifying  increase.  They  are  stationed 
at  important  points  throughout  the  larger  part  of 
the  unevangelized  world.  In  no  other  undertak- 
ing, secular  or  religious,  is  there  a  more  capable 
and  devoted  body  of  workers.  They  have  devel- 
oped and  adapted  varied  and  efficient  methods  for 
the  extension  and  upbuilding  of  Christ's  Kingdom. 
The  object  lesson  of  their  lives  and  achievements 
has  enriched  the  Church  and  will  serve  always  as 
a  guide  and  inspiration.  While  the  present  num- 
ber of  missionaries  is  large  in  comparison  with  that 
of  a  century  ago,  there  is  need  of  an  enlargement 
of  the  foreign  force.  The  Church  easily  can  fur- 
nish as  many  men  and  women  as  will  be  required. 
According  to  the  estimates  of  missionaries  it  would 
be  necessary  to  send  out  less  than  one-fiftieth  of 
the  Christian  young  men  and  young  women  who 
will  go  through  the  universities  and  colleges  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada  within  this  genera- 
tion. When  the  students  of  Europe  are  taken  into 
consideration,  it  will  be  seen  that  Christian  coun- 
tries can  well  afford  to  spare  the  workers  required. 
Their  going  forth  would  quicken  and  strengthen 
rather  than  weaken  the  entire  Church. 

>  Dennis,  '»  Centennial  Statistics,"  17,  18. 
121 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

The  Bible  societies,  although  themselves  vir- 
tually missionary  organizations,  should  receive 
special  notice  because  of  the  vital  relation  which 
the  Bible  sustains  to  the  world's  evangelization. 
There  are  no  less  than  eighty  separate  Bible  societies 
besides  many  auxiliaries.  A  majority  of  them  are 
inter-denominational.  Pre-eminently  the  largest 
and  most  fruitful  among  them  is  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society.  It  issues  annually,  ex- 
clusive of  British  and  Continental  circulation, 
nearly  4,500,000  Bibles  and  portions  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  employs  over  1,200  colporteurs  and 
Bible  women.*  Its  yearly  expenditures  are  over 
$1,100,000.2  It  is  estimated  that  since  1804  all 
the  Bible  societies  combined  have  issued  over 
280,000,000  Bibles,  Testaments,  and  portions  of 
the  Scriptures. 3  They  have  accomplished  an  im- 
mense amount  of  preliminary  work.  In  1800  the 
Bible  existed  in  only  sixty-six  languages  and  dia- 
lects, or  those  of  but  one-fifth  the  population  of 
the  earth.'*    Dr.   Oust  states  that  there  are  ^^at 


'  t*  The  Ninety-fifth  Report  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society." 

2  Ibid. 

3  "  Eighty -third   Annual  Report   of  the   American  Bible 
Society,"  210. 

^  Daniel  Dorchester,    "  The   Problem  of  Religious  Prog- 
ress," 666. 

132 


RESOUKCES    OF    THE    CHURCH 

least  two  thousand  mutually  un-intelligible  [lan- 
guages] spoken/'^  and  adds  that  though  the 
Scriptures  have  been  translated  into  only  330  out 
of  2,000  languages,  ''  yet  all  the  conquering  lan- 
guages, and  a  great  many  of  the  second  class,  or 
permanent  languages,  have  been  dealt  with/'  ^ 

A  still  later  authoritative  statement  is  that  of 
Mr.  J.  Gordon  Watt,  Secretary  of  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  who  reported  early  in  1899 
that  the  Bible  or  some  part  of  it  had  been  trans- 
lated into  406  languages  and  dialects.^  It  is  sig- 
nificant that  these  translations  are  in  the  lan- 
guages which  are  spoken  by  1,200,000,000  people, 
and  that  the  remaining  1,600  languages  are  spoken 
by  less  than  300,000,000.  In  view  of  this  fact 
the  Earl  of  Harrowby  does  not  exaggerate  when 
he  says  :  "  The  past  fifty  years  have  almost  seen 
a  repetition  of  the  gift  of  tongues,  because  we  have 
produced  translations  of  the  Bible  in  something 
like  140  tongues.  .  .  .  [It]  is  almost  miracu- 
lous."^ There  is  still  much  work  for  the  Bible 
societies,  namely,  to  prepare  new  translations  for 
peoples  not  yet  reached,  to  complete  certain  trans- 
lations, and  to  revise  still  others,  not  to  mention 

*  "  Normal  Addresses  on  Bible  Diffusion,"  35. 
'  Ibid.,  38.  2  "  Four  Hundred  Tongues,"  11. 

*Cust,  "Normal  Addresses  on  Bible  Diffusion,"  27,  28. 

123 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

the  great  work  of  further  distribution.  But  the 
marvelous  success  of  the  past  century  should  en- 
courage us  to  believe  that,  if  the  Church  properly 
sustains  these  invaluable  agencies,  before  this  gen- 
eration closes  each  African,  each  Pacific  Islander, 
and  each  inhabitant  of  Asia  will  be  able  to  read  or 
hear  in  his  own  tongue  '^  the  mighty  works  of 
God."  Of  the  same  class  of  agencies  are  the  mis- 
sion publishing  houses  and  special  societies  for  dif- 
fusing Christian  literature.  By  expounding  the 
Gospel  through  a  wide  range  of  printed  works, 
reaching  from  primer  to  commentary,  they  help- 
fully supplement  the  work  of  all  missionaries. 

There  are  other  Christian  organizations  and 
forces  on  the  home  field  which  greatly  strengthen 
the  hands  of  the  Church  for  her  missionary  task. 
The  different  religious  periodicals  which  go  into 
millions  of  Christian  homes  are  a  mighty  force  and 
are  in  a  position  to  guide  and  stimulate  the  army 
of  Christy's  disciples  to  larger  endeavor.  The  hun- 
dreds of  Christian  colleges  and  seminaries  which  are 
training  the  future  leaders  of  society  in  Church, 
in  State  and  in  the  professions  are  rendering  a 
vital  service  to  the  cause  of  Christ  in  the  world. 

The  organized  Christian  movements  among  stu- 
dents constitute  one  of  the  largest  and  most  potent 
forces  in  the  Church.  There  are  now  fourteen 
124 


BESOTJRCES  OF  THE  CHUECH 

great  national  and  international  student  organiza- 
tions, namely,  the  American  and  Canadian  Stu- 
dent Young  Men's  Christian  Association ;  the 
American  Student  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation ;  the  Australasian  Student  Christian 
Union  ;  the  British  College  Christian  Union  ;  the 
College  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of 
China  ;  the  French  Christian  Student  Movement ; 
the  German  Christian  Students'  Alliance ;  the 
Intercollegiate  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
of  India  and  Ceylon  ;  the  Netherlands  Students' 
Christian  Union  ;  the  Student  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  Union  of  Japan ;  the  Scandina- 
vian University  Christian  Movement ;  the  Stu- 
dents' Christian  Association  of  South  Africa ;  the 
Student  Christian  Movement  in  Mission  Lands, 
and  the  Swiss  Christian  Students'  Association. 
These  movements  have  been  united  into  a  World's 
Student  Christian  Federation.  They  comprise 
over  1,400  separate  Christian  Associations,  with  a 
total  membership  of  nearly  65,000  students  and 
professors.^  They  are  seeking  to  make  the  univer- 
sities and  colleges  strongholds  and  propagating 
centers  for  aggressive  Christianity.  Under  their 
influence  an  increasing  number  of  students  are 

1  "  Surrey    of  the  Christian   Student  Movements  of  the 
World." 

125 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

year  by  year  accepting  Christ  as  their  Saviour  and 
Lord.  They  have  created  a  remarkable  revival  in 
Bible  study.  The  Student  Volunteer  Movement 
for  Foreign  Missions,  which  is  organically  related 
to  the  other  student  movements  as  their  missionary 
department,  has  in  itself  become  a  mighty  factor 
in  the  world's  evangelization.  It  has  enrolled 
thousands  of  students  as  volunteers  for  foreign 
service,  and  has  been  truthfully  characterized  as 
the  greatest  uprising  for  the  evangelization  of  the 
world  since  the  days  of  the  Apostles.  Surely  this 
has  a  Providential  significance.  ^'  On  the  one 
hand  the  world — not  half  of  which  has  yet  been 
evangelized — lies  open  to  the  Christian  Church ; 
on  the  other  hand,  men  and  women  undoubtedly 
moved  and  prepared  by  God,  in  increasing  but 
still  inadequate  numbers,  are  ready  to  go.  This 
can  be  no  chance  coincidence.^'  ^  Of  almost  equal 
importance  is  the  influence  of  the  student  organi- 
zations in  enlisting  in  the  enterprise  of  world-wide 
missions  the  active  interest  of  students  who  are 
to  be  leaders  of  the  Church  on  the  home  field.  It 
should  be  pointed  out  that  all  of  these  student 
movements  have  arisen  during  the  present  genera- 
tion.    Thus  it  will  be  recognized  that  the  Church 

'  Professor  H.  C.  G,  Moule.  "  Proceedings  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society.     1897-98,"  IL 
126 


RESOUECES    OF    THE    CHURCH 

in  possessing  this  important  recruiting  and  train- 
ing agency  is  equipped  as  in  no  preceding  age  for  a 
world -embracing  evangelistic  campaign. 

The  various  Christian  young  people's  organiza- 
tions which  have  been  developed  within  the  past 
two  decades  have  added  largely  to  the  power  of  the 
Church.  In  North  America  alone  the  Young  Peo- 
ple's Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  the  Epworth 
League,  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union,  the 
Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and  Philip,  the  Young 
People's  Christian  Union,  the  Westminster  League, 
the  Luther  League,  and  kindred  movements  have 
nearly  100,000  local  societies  and  a  total  member- 
ship of  fully  5,500,000.^  It  is  a  great  army — equal 
to  the  number  of  people  in  Holland  or  Sweden  or 
Canada.  These  young  people  themselves,  if  pro- 
perly educated  and  guided,  are  able  to  give  and 
raise  each  year  a  sum  large  enough  to  support  all 
the  foreign  missionaries  who  would  be  required  to 
accomplish  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  They 
are  young  people ;  it  is  not  too  late  for  them  to 
form  proper  habits  of  giving,  praying  and  working 
for  missions.  They  are  organized  ;  therefore  it 
is  possible  to  communicate  to  them  missionary  im- 
pulses and  to  secure  their  concerted  action. 

1  Based  on  letters  from  the  officers  of  the  different  move- 
ments.   Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 
127 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

The  Sunday  School  is  in  some  respects  the 
largest  undeveloped  missionary  resource  of  the 
Church.  In  1890  the  number  of  children  in  the 
Sunday  schools  of  Protestant  lands  exceeded 
22,000,000.^  If  they  were  trained  to  give  even 
two  cents  a  week  per  member,  it  would  yield  an 
amount  greater  than  the  present  total  missionary 
gifts  of  Christendom.  That  this  is  not  an  unrea- 
sonable estimate  is  proved  by  the  actual  practice 
of  many  Sunday  schools. 

The  native  Church  is  the  human  resource  which 
affords  largest  promise  for  the  evangelization  of 
the  world.  It  is  not  only  an  impressive  monument 
to  the  power  of  Christian  missions,  but  an  earnest 
of  the  vast  fruitage  which  may  be  expected  within 
our  generation.  It  constitutes  both  the  end  of 
evangelization  and  its  principal  means.  At  the 
present  time  the  native  Church  has  fully  1,300,000 
communicants  and  over  4,400,000  adherents.^ 
The  activity,  earnestness  and  liberality  of  these 
native  Christians  compares  favorably  with  that 
of  the  Church  members  in  any  Christian  land. 
There  are  about  77,000  evangelists,  pastors,  teach- 
ers, catechists,  medical  helpers  and  other  native 

»  Dorchester,  "  The  Problem  of  Religious  Progress,"  dia- 
gram XVII. 
*  Dennifl,  "  Centennial  Statistics,"  17. 
128 


RESOURCES    OF    THE    CHURCa 

workers,  and  their  number  and  efficiency  are 
rapidly  increasing.^  There  are  over  1,000,000 
children  and  young  people  in  the  various  mission 
schools  and  institutions  of  higher  learning  ;  and 
of  this  number  at  least  140,000  are  in  mission  col- 
leges, training  institutes  and  high  schools.^  From 
the  ranks  of  these  students  and  their  successors 
are  to  come  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  evan- 
gelists, teachers,  Bible  women  and  other  workers 
who  will  be  needed  to  preach  Christ  to  the  multi- 
tudinous inhabitants  of  the  unevangelized  world. 
This  suggests  again  the  significance  of  the  Chris- 
tian movement  among  the  students  of  non-Chris- 
tian lands.  It  is  doing  much  to  solve  the  problem 
of  the  world^s  speedy  and  thorough  evangelization 
by  uniting  the  native  Christian  students,  first,  to 
lead  their  fellow  students  to  Christ,  and  then, 
after  their  preparation  is  completed,  to  go  forth  to 
evangelize  their  own  countrymen.  In  view  of  the 
extent  and  possibilities  of  the  native  Christian 
forces,  surely  the  Church  is  able  to  accomplish  far 
more  to-day  for  the  world's  evangelization  than  in 
any  preceding  age. 

The  Divine  resources  of  the  Church  are  im- 
measurably more  powerful  and  more  important 
than  all  others.     The  evangelization  of  the  world 

1  Dennis,  "Centennial  Statistics,"  17.         ^2  Ibid.,  21. 
129 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

is  not  man's  enterprise  but  God's.  Christ  at  the 
right  hand  of  God  is  the  leader  of  the  missionary 
movement,  and  with  Him  resides  all  power  in 
heaven  and  on  earth.  The  Spirit  of  God  is  as  able 
to  shake  communities  now  as  in  the  days  of  St. 
Peter  and  St.  John.  The  "Word  of  God  possesses 
dynamic  and  transforming  power.  Prayer  can 
still  remove  mountains.  Macedonian  visions  are 
yet  vouchsafed  unto  men.  Faith  is  the  victory 
that  overcomes  the  world. 

Why  has  God  made  the  whole  world  known  and 
accessible  to  our  generation  ?  Why  has  He  pro- 
vided us  with  such  wonderful  agencies  ?  Not  that 
the  forces  of  evil  might  utilize  them.  Not  for  the 
purpose  of  promoting  strife  and  avarice.  Not  for 
us  to  waste  or  leave  unused.  Such  vast  prepara- 
tions must  have  been  made  to  further  some  mighty 
and  beneficent  purpose.  Every  one  of  these  won- 
derful facilities  has  been  intended  primarily  to 
serve  as  a  handmaid  to  the  sublime  enterprise  of 
extending  and  building  up  the  Kingdom  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  all  the  world.  The  hand  of  God  in  opening 
door  after  door  among  the  nations  of  mankind,  in 
unlocking  the  secrets  of  nature  and  in  bringing  to 
light  invention  after  invention,  is  beckoning  the 
Church  of  our  day  to  larger  achievements.  If  the 
Church  instead  of  theorizing  and  speculating  will 
180 


RESOURCES    OF    THE    CHURCH 

improve  her  opportunities,  facilities  and  resources, 
it  seems  entirely  possible  to  fill  the  earth  with  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  before  the  present  generation 
passes  away.  With  literal  truth  it  may  be  said 
that  ours  is  an  age  of  unparalleled  opportunity. 
'*  Providence  and  revelation  combine  to  call  the 
Church  afresh  to  go  in  and  take  possession  of  the 
world  for  Christ.''^  Everything  seems  to  be 
ready  for  a  general  and  determined  engagement 
of  the  forces  of  Christendom  for  the  world-wide 
proclamation  of  the  Gospel.  "Once  the  world 
seemed  boundless  and  the  Church  was  poor  and 
persecuted.  No  wonder  the  work  of  evangelizing 
the  world  within  a  reasonable  time  seemed  hope- 
less. Now  steam  and  electricity  have  brought  the 
world  together.  The  Church  of  God  is  in  the 
ascendant.  She  has  well  within  her  control  the 
power,  the  wealth,  and  the  learning  of  the  world. 
She  is  like  a  strong  and  well  appointed  army  in 
the  presence  of  the  foe.  The  only  thing  she  needs 
is  the  Spirit  of  her  Leader  and  a  willingness  to 
obey  His  summons  to  go  forward.  The  victory 
may  not  be  easy  but  it  is  sure."^ 

^  "  Memorial  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Missionary  Union." 
The  Student  Volunteer  (of  Great  Britain),  New  Series,  No. 
15,  p.  77 

'  Dr.  Calvin  W.  Mateer,  letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement. 

131 


VII 


THE  POSSIBILITY  OF  EVANGELIZING  THE 
WORLD  WITHIN  A  GENERATION  AS  VIEWED 
BY  LEADERS   IN   THE   CHURCH 

I:n"  1818  Gordon  Hall  and  Samuel  Newell,  mis- 
sionaries of  the  American  Board  in  India,  issued  a 
burning  appeal  to  Christians.  It  appeared  as  a 
pamphlet  entitled  '^  The  Conversion  of  the  World  ; 
or  the  claims  of  Six  Hundred  Millions,  and  the 
Ability  and  Duty  of  the  Churches  Respecting 
Them."  In  it  they  maintained  :  ^'  It  is  the  duty 
of  the  churches  to  send  forth  preachers  in  stifficient 
numbers  to  fuj^iish  the  means  of  instruction  and 
salvation  to  the  whole  world.  .  .  .  As  to  the 
number  of  preachers,  the  same  reasons  which  prove 
the  duty  of  sending  one,  equally  prove  the  duty  of 
sending  as  many  as  are  requisite  to  fulfil  the  com- 
mand of  Christ,  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture. If  we  send  half  a  dozen  missionaries  to  a 
country  where  there  are  as  many  millions  of  souls, 
we  are  too  apt  to  imagine  that  we  have  discharged 
our  duty  to  that  country — we  have  sent  them  the 
Gospel.  The  fact  however  is,  we  have  only  sent  the 
133 


OPINIONS    OF    CHRISTIAN    LEADERS 

Gospel  to  a  few  individnals  in  that  nation.  .  .  , 
The  thing  that  Christ  commands  is  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature, — not  merely  to  a  few  in- 
dividuals in  every  nation."  ^ 

One  of  the  most  impressive  appeals  ever  sent  by 
the  missionaries  to  the  Church  at  home  appeared 
in  1836,  and  was  entitled  "  The  Duty  of  the  Pres- 
ent Generation  to  Evangelize  the  World  :  An  Ap- 
peal from  the  Missionaries  at  the  Sandwich  Islands 
to  their  Friends  in  the  United  States.  "  All  the 
members  of  the  mission  united  in  the  opinion  that 
'^  the  present  generation  can  preach  the  gospel  to 
the  heathen.  The  men  are  already  educated. 
Other  means  are  ready.  God  requires  it  as  a  pres- 
ent duty.  .  .  .  The  world  has  long  been  un- 
der the  influence  of  this  scheme,  of  committing 
the  heathen  to  the  next  generation."  ^ 

In  1858  during  the  time  of  the  greatest  revival 
the  American  churches  have  ever  known,  Dr.  Joel 
Parker,  one  of  the  leading  pastors  of  N'ew  York, 
preached  a  sermon  on  ^^  The  Duty  of  the  Present 
Generation  of  Christians  to  Evangelize  the  World," 
in  which  he  said  :  ^^  It  is  the  duty  of  Christians  to 
evangelize  the  whole  world  immediately.  The 
present  generation  is  competent  under  God  to 
achieve  the  work.  There  are  means  enough  in  the 
'P  9.  2  Pp.  34,  36. 

133 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

power  of  the  Churcli  to  do  it.  There  is  money  that 
can  be  counted  in  millions  that  can  be  spared  with- 
out producing  any  serious  want.  There  are  men 
enough  for  the  missionary  work.  If  ten  thousand 
should  leave  us  for  heathen  shores  in  the  course  of 
a  twelve-month,  going  out  in  companies  of  from 
ten  to  fifty,  they  would  scarcely  be  missed  from  our 
country.  The  Church,  we  have  reason  to  believe 
would  even  be  strengthened  by  it.  Such  a  revival 
of  Christian  zeal  would  be  the  means  of  converting 
ten  times  that  number."  ^ 

The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  in  an  address  given  at 
the  conference  on  missions  held  in  Liverpool  in 
1860,  speaking  of  the  condition  of  the  world,  said  : 
*'  Do  consider,  that  at  this  moment  the  numbers  of 
those  who  do  not  believe  in  the  name  of  our  Lord 
are  ten,  twenty,  perhaps  thirtyfold,  those  to  whom 
the  knowledge  of  salvation  has  been  administered. 
Recollect,  that  though  the  state  of  things  be  so, 
the  world  has  been  for  eighteen  centuries  in  this 
condition  ;  and,  during  the  latter  part  of  these  cen- 
turies, it  has  been  in  the  power  of  those  who  hold 
the  truth,  having  means  enough,  having  knowl- 
edge enough,  and  having  opportunity  enough,  to 
evangelize  the  globe  fifty  times  over."  ^ 

Dr.  Joseph  Angus  in  1871  preached  a  notable 
1  Pp.  21,  23.     2 "  Conference  on  Missions,"  322. 
134 


OPINIONS    OF    CHRISTIAN   LEADERS 

sermon  before  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  on 
''  Apostolic  Missions  :  the  Gospel  for  Every  Crea- 
ture." It  has  been  printed  and  given  a  wide  cir- 
culation. In  this  sermon  Dr.  Angus  expressed  the 
opinion  that  '^if  the  Christian  Church  will  give 
itself  to  this  business  of  preaching  the  Gospel,  it 
has  wealth  enough  and  men  enough  to  preach  it, 
in  the  next  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  to  every  crea- 
ture. All  we  need  is  a  ^  willing  mind ' — a  Pente- 
costal spirit  of  prayer,  and  faith  and  zeal."^ 

The  words  of  Simeon  Calhoun,  uttered  many 
years  ago,  still  ring  with  confidence  :  *'  It  is  my 
deep  conviction,  and  I  say  it  again  and  again,  that 
if  the  Church  of  Christ  were  what  she  ought  to 
be,  twenty  years  would  not  pass  away  till  the  story 
of  the  Cross  will  be  uttered  in  the  ears  of  every 
living  man."  2 

At  the  General  Conference  of  the  Protestant 
Missionaries  of  China,  held  at  Shanghai  in  1877, 
the  adopted  report  of  the  Committee  on  Appeal 
to  the  Churches  contains  the  following  weighty 
statement :  '^  How  long  shall  this  fearful  ruin  of 
souls  continue  ?  Ought  we  not  to  make  an  effort 
to  save  China  in  this  generation  ?  Is  God's  power 
limited  ?    Is  the  efficacy  of  prayer  limited  ?    This 

» P.  32. 

^  Quoted  in  '» The  Evangelization  of  the  World,"  73. 

135 


THE    EVANGELIZATION    OF    THE    WORLD 

grand  achievement  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Church. 
.  ,  .  We  want  China  emancipated  from  the 
thraldom  of  sin  in  this  generation.  It  is  possi- 
ble. Our  Lord  has  said,  'According  to  your 
faith  be  it  unto  you.'  The  Church  of  God  can  do 
it,  if  she  be  only  faithful  to  her  great  commission. 
.  .  Standing  on  the  borders  of  this  vast 
empire,  we,  therefore — one  hundred  and  twenty 
missionaries,  from  almost  every  evangelical  re- 
ligious denomination  in  Europe  and  America,  as- 
sembled in  General  Conference  at  Shanghai,  and 
representing  the  whole  body  of  Protestant  Mis- 
sionaries in  China — feeling  our  utter  insufficiency 
for  the  great  work  so  rapidly  expanding,  do  most 
earnestly  plead,  with  one  voice,  calling  upon  the 
whole  Church  of  God  for  more  laborers.  And  we 
will  as  earnestly  and  unitedly  plead  at  the  Throne 
of  Grace  that  the  Spirit  of  God  may  move  the 
hearts  of  all,  to  whom  this  appeal  comes,  to  cry, — 
'Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?'  And 
may  this  spirit  be  communicated  from  heart  to 
heart,  from  church  to  church,  from  continent  to 
continent,  until  the  whole  Christian  world  shall 
be  aroused,  and  every  soldier  of  the  cross  shall 
come  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty.''  ^ 

*  **  Records  of  the  General  Conference  of  the  Protestant 
Missionaries  of  China,"  476,  478.     The   Committee  which 
136 


OPINIONS    OF    CHRISTIAN    LEADERS 

Professor  Samuel  H.  Kellogg,  of  the  Western 
Theological  Seminary,  after  he  had  been  for  years 
a  missionary  in  India,  wrote  :  '*  I  have  been  pro- 
foundly interested  in  the  suggestion  that  has  been 
thrown  out  of  late  in  several  quarters — that  the 
Church  of  Christ  should  make  it  its  business  to 
see  to  it  that  the  Gospel  is  carried  to  all  the  world 
before  the  present  generation  shall  have  passed 
away.  That  the  Church  of  Christ  as  now  existing 
on  the  earth  has  the  full  ability,  both  in  men  and 

prepared  this  appeal  was  composed  as  follows :  Mr.  A. 
Wylie,  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society;  Rev.  L.  H. 
Gulick,  M.D.,  of  the  American  Bible  Society;  Rev.  A. 
Williamson,  LL.D.,  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Scotland;  Rev.  C.  Douglas,  LL.D.,  of  the  English  Presby- 
terian Church ;  Rev.  C.  Goodrich,  of  the  American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions ;  Rev.  G.  John,  of  the 
London  Missionary  Society;  Rev.  M.  T.  Yates,  D.D.,  of 
the  Southern  Baptist  Convention;  Rev.  J.  H.  Taylor,  M.D., 
of  the  Cliina  Inland  Mission ;  Rev.  J.  W.  Lambuth,  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South;  Rev.  E.  H.  Thomson, 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church ;  Rev.  S.  L.  Baldwin,  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Churcii;  Rev.  J.  V.  N.  Talmage, 
D.D.,  of  the  Reformed  Church;  Rev.  J.  R.  Goddard,  of  the 
Baptist  Missionary  Union  ;  Rev.  C.  R.  Mills,  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church ;  Rev.  B,  Helm,  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Church;  Rev.  D.  Hill,  of  the  English  Wesleyan  Mission; 
Rev.  F.  F.  Gough,  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society ;  Rev. 
R.  Lechler,  of  the  Basel  Mission;  Rev.  C.  P.  Scott,  of  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel ;  Rev.  W.  N.  Hall, 
of  the  Methodist  New  Connection,  England ;  and  Rev.  I^ 
Swallow,  of  the  United  Methodist  Free  Church,  England. 

m 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOELD 

money,  for  this  work,  no  man  can  doubt.  And  if 
she  has  the  ability,  who  can  doubt  for  a  moment 
that  it  is  her  bounden  duty  ?  Is  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Chi^st,  so  rich  to-day  in  gifted  men  and  al- 
most boundless  wealth,  with  almost  every  door  in 
all  the  world  thrown  open  to  her  in  answer  to  her 
prayer,  is  she  prepared  to  take  the  responsibility 
of  putting  off  the  kingdom  ?  "  ^ 

Dr.  E.  G.  Wilder,  who  had  been  a  missionary  in 
India  for  thirty  years,  in  an  editorial  which  he 
wrote  while  he  was  in  charge  of  The  Missionary 
Review  said  :  '*  Those  dear  brethren  who  seem  to 
think  and  argue  that  some  minds  are  too  ardent  on 
this  subject,  that  this  work  must  be  prosecuted  for 
generations  and  centuries  and  ages  yet  to  come, 
before  we  can  expect  its  completion,  overlook  the 
fact  that  thousands  of  heathens  have  beei  fuU^ 
enlightened  and  won  to  Christ  within  the  current 
generation  who  never  before  heard  a  word  oi  Bos- 
pel  truth  ;  [and]  that  if  a  sufficient  Christian  "  . . 
were  enlisted  the  whole  800,000,000  of  he  bhens 
might  have  been  as  thoroughly  evangelic  d  as 
these  thousands,  in  the  same  period  of  tim^  *'2 

In  1887,  Dr.  Judson  Smith,  Secretary  of  ''■-he 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 

»  The  New  TorTe  Evangelist^  Dec.  29,  1881,  p.  1. 
5  The  Missionary  Review^  Vol.  V.,  188. 
138 


--  -OPINIONS    OF    CHRISTIAN   LEADERS 

Missions,  in  emphasizing  the  present  opportunity 
of  the  Church,  said  :  ''  What  hinders  the  im- 
mediate effort  to  plant  the  Gospel  in  every  nation 
and  island  and  home  in  all  the  earth  within  the 
next  few  decades  ?  Nothing  but  the  faltering 
zeal  and  purpose  of  the  mass  of  Christian  believers 
now  on  the  earth.  That  precisely  is  the  critical 
question.  Are  we,  the  Christians  of  to-day, 
awake  to  these  facts  and  responsive  to  the  claims 
.of  this  glorious  work  ?  Do  we  understand  that 
this  vast  responsibility  rests  upon  us  9  That  it  is 
.possible  now,  as  never  before  in  the  world's  his- 
tory, to  preach  the  Gospel  to  all  the  7iatio7isf 
And  do  we  mean,  God  helping,  that  this  work 
shall  be  done  ere  we  die  ?  This  is  the  deep  sig- 
nificance of  the  hour  to  this  generation.'^  ^ 
,•  It  ran  address  at  the  Centenary  Conference  on 
foreign  Missions,  held  in  London  in  1888,  Dr.  A. 
Si^lherland,  Secretary  of  the  Missionary  Society  of 
Methodist  Church  in  Canada,  expressed  his 
belie^Lthat  ''  the  power  latent  in  the  Churches,  if 
prop}.rly  utilised  and  directed,  would  be  amply 
^uffic"'.^nt  for  the  speedy  evangelisation  of  the 
wr  "-^/'^ 

'  "  Seventy-seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  American  Board 
of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,"  p.  XX«IX. 

8  *'  Report  of  the  Centenary  Conference  on  the  Protestant 
Missions  of  the  World,"  Vol.  I.,  lU. 
139 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

Mr.  Eugene  Stock,  the  Editorial  Secretary  of 
the  Church  Missionary  Society,  writing  in  1896 
on  the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  genera- 
tion, gave  the  following  considerations,  among 
others,  bearing  upon  the  possibility  of  the  under- 
taking: '^Some  reader  may  urge,  it  has  never 
been  done  yet.  No  one  generation  has  been  actu- 
ally evangelized.  True;  yet  that  is  no  proof  of 
its  impossibility;  and  the  fact  that  past  genera- 
tions of  Christians  failed  to  accomplish  their 
task,  or  rather,  never  tried  (except  perhaps  in 
the  first  century,  and  even  that  is  very  doubt- 
ful), is  no  reason  why  we  should  shrink  from 
ours.  'Give  ye  them  to  eat,'  said  Christ  to 
His  disciples ;  and  if  ever  there  was  an  im- 
possible task.  He  gave  them  one  then  ;  yet  it 
was  accomplished.  But  that  was  a  miracle,  urges 
our  imaginary  friend.  Well, -if  it  be  allowed  for 
argument's  sake  that  the  day  of  miracles  in  the 
material  world  is  past,  most  assuredly  the  day  of 
miracles  in  the  spiritual  world  is  not  past ;  nay, 
we  are  in  the  very  noon  of  it.  Yet  perhaps  we 
undervalue  that  development  of  even  material 
things  which  daily  tends  to  make  material  miracles 
less  necessary.  Half  a  century  ago,  who  would 
have  dared  to  predict  that  within  much  less  than 
that  time  we  should  be  able  to  communicate  in  a 
140 


OPINIONS   OF   CHRISTIAN   LEADERS 

few  minutes  simnltaneonsly  with  New  York  and 
Constantinople  and  Cape  Coast  Castle  and  Johan- 
nesburg and  Fuh-Chow  ?  The  daily  and  hourly 
cablegrams  from  all  parts  of  the  world  are  so 
much  a  matter  of  course,  that  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  the  Colonies,  when,  on  a  memorable  recent 
occasion,  he  received  no  news  from  South  Africa 
less  than  twenty-four  hours  old,  went  off  at  mid- 
night to  the  office  of  the  Telegraph  Company  to 
ask  what  had  happened  to  the  wires.  This  is  but 
a  single  illustration.  The  world  is  shrinking  fast 
in  respect  of  distances  to  be  covered.  And  God 
has  flung  open  door  after  door  that  had  been 
closed  for  centuries  ;  so  that  what  was  utterly  im- 
possible when  the  Church  Missionary  Society  was 
founded  is  perfectly  feasible  now.''^  ^ 

At  the  Lambeth  Conference  of  Bishops  of  the 
Anglican  Communion,  held  in  London  in  1897, 
the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Missions, 
composed  of  fifty-six  bishops,  contains  the  follow- 
ing words  regarding  the  missionary  movement 
among  students  :  '^  Your  Committee  observe  with 
gratitude  to  God  that  a  very  large  number  of  stu- 
dents in  universities  and  collegies  throughout  the 
world  have  realised  so  keenly  the  call  to  missionary 
work  that  they  have  enrolled   themselves  in  a 

1  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  April,  1896,  p.  255. 
141 


THE  EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

Student  Volunteer  Missionary  Union,  and  have 
taken  as  their  watchword  '  The  Evangelization  of 
the  World  in  This  Generation.' "^ 

The  Bishop  of  Newcastle,  in  the  paper  which  he 
presented  at  the  Church  Congress  in  England  in 
1898,  gives  the  following  facts  pointing  to  the  pos- 
sibility of  the  world-wide  proclamation  of  the  Gos- 
pel within  our  day :  ''  When  I  consider  the  obliga- 
tion, not  of  clergy  alone,  but  of  the  whole  Church, 
to  *  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations ; '  the  extra- 
ordinary development  of  civilization  which  has 
made  all  nations  accessible  within  this  century  ; 
the  enormous  wealth  accumulated  by  Christian  na- 
tions of  the  earth  ;  the  wonderful  results  given  to 
the  earnest  labours  of  a  comparatively  few  men  and 
women  (samples,  surely,  of  what  awaits  the  labours 
of  an  awakened  Church) ;  the  growing  appreciation 
within  the  last  generation  of  the  duty  and  blessing 
of  evangelizing  the  world,  as  is  illustrated  by  the 
growth  of  the  income  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  in  thirty  years  from  £153,921  to  £331,598, 
with  a  corresponding  increase  of  staff,  and  by  the 
upgrowth  within  a  few  years  of  this  remarkable 
movement  amongst  students  in  various  colleges 
which  has  led  to  a  study  of  missionary  literature 
and  of  missionary  problems,  and  to  offers  of  per- 

'  "  Conference  of  Bishops  of  the  Anglican  Communion,**  70 
142 


OPINIONS    OF    CHRISTIAN   LEADERS 

sonal  service  beyond  all  former  precedent, — I  am 
compelled  to  say  that  I  think  the  watchword  pre- 
sented to  ns  by  the  Student  Volunteer  Missionary 
Union,  and  as  authoritatively  explained,  to  be 
justified  by  our  Lord's  command,  and  by  the  care- 
ful consideration  of  the  facts  of  the  world's  prog- 
ress.''^ 

Dr.  Jacob  Chamberlain,  a  missionary  of  the  Re- 
formed Church  in  India,  appealed  thus  to  the 
delegates  at  the  Bombay  Decennial  Conference  in 
1892-3  :  '' '  Christ  for  India  and  India  for  Christ, 
— let  that  be  our  enthusiastic  shout,  backed  up  by 
enthusiastic  deeds,  and  by  God^s  blessing,  we  will 
bring  revolted  India  into  Christ's  Kingdom  within 
the  lives  of  those  now  born."  ^ 

The  Bishop  of  Mombasa,  writing  at  the  close  of 
several  years*  missionary  work  in  Western  India, 
expressed  his  conviction  that  *'  there  are  Christians 
enough  in  India  to  evangelize  all  her  peoples  and 
constantly  to  make  the  Gospel  known  in  all  her 
villages,  if  hut  God's  Holy  Spirit  come  upon  them 
for  the  worh,  and  the  Lord's  Hand  provide  the 
means  for  those  who  preach  the  Gospel  to  Mive 
of  the  Gospel,'  as  He  surely  will.     The  Christians 

'  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer^  Nov.,  1898,  p.  822. 
'  "  Report  of  the  Third  Decennial  Missionary  Conference," 
I.,  129. 

143 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF   THE   WORLD 

know  the  languages.  They  know  the  caste  system. 
They  are  just  what  the  Lord  has  need  of.  Oh 
that  one  and  all  would  'yield  as  alive  from  the 
dead/  and  that  the  Lord  would  take  them  by 
thousands  and  by  thousands  for  the  evangelization 
of  India !  So  in  China,  so  in  Africa,  and  else- 
where. The  Lord  take  hold  of  the  Christians  of 
the  soil  for  a  '  Sanctuary  and  for  a  dominion  ! '  '^  * 

Dr.  J.  C.  R  Ewing,  the  Principal  of  the  Forman 
Christian  College  at  Lahore,  India,  has  expressed 
the  following  opinion  :  '*  I  regard  the  idea  of  the 
evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  generation  as 
entirely  Scriptural.  There  is  not  a  hint  in  the 
Word  to  lead  us  to  adopt  the  popular  theory  that 
it  is  the  Church's  task  to  strive  generation  after 
generation  to  gather  out  the  few.  '  The  Gospel 
to  every  creature  * — that  means  to  every  man  and 
woman  living  now.  It  is  the  fault  of  the  Church 
if  from  amongst  the  present  rising  generation  any 
advance  to  old  age  without  hearing  of  Christ  and 
His  salvation.^'  ^ 

The  oldest  missionary  of  the  Canadian  Presby- 
terian Church  in  India,  Rev.  J.  F.  Campbell,  has 
written  as  follows :  **  Looking  at  it,  then,  as 
coolly  and  unconcernedly  as  we  can,  we  are  oon- 

»  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 
•Ibid. 

144 


Opinions  of  christian  leaders 

vinced  that,  whatever  may  or  may  not  have  been 
the  case  before,  the  professed  people  of  Christ  now 
living  have  it  in  their  power  within  one  generation 
to  give  every  responsible  human  being  the  chance 
of  intelligently  accepting  Christ  as  his  Saviour 
from  sin,  if  he  is  willing.  All  that  is  needed  is 
that  those  who  are  called  Christians,  and  with 
their  lips  acknowledge  Him  as  true  Teacher  and 
rightful  Lord,  really  believe  His  words  in  their 
inmost  hearts  and  yield  themselves  to  His  service 
accordingly."  * 

Rev.  S.  M.  Zwemer,  F.R.G.S.,  a  Reformed 
Church  missionary  in  Arabia,  in  writing  about  his 
own  field,  which  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  lands 
in  the  world  to  evangelize,  says  :  '^  At  the  Student 
Volunteer  Convention  in  Cleveland  [in  1898]  I 
felt,  and  feel  now,  that  Arabia  could  easily  be 
evangelized  within  the  next  thirty  years  if  it  were 
not  for  the  wicked  selfishness  of  Christians.  As 
I  looked  over  the  vast  audience  I  said  to  myself. 
With  one  hundred  of  these  men  willing  to  endure 
hardness,  and  $100,000  to  send  them  out,  God 
could  shake  the  very  pillars  of  Mohammed's  tem- 
ple and  bring  glory  to  His  Son  by  wrenching  back 
Arabia  from  the  grasp  of  Satan.  ■'^^ 

'  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Morement. 
2  Ibid. 

145 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF    THE   WORLD 

Eev.  Christian  Borchgrevink,  M.D.,  who  has 
labored  for  over  thirty  years  in  Madagascar  under 
the  Norwegian  Missionary  Society  (Stavanger,  Nor- 
way), gives  his  opinion  regarding  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  his  part  of  the  world  field  :  "  I  would  not 
regard  it  as  impossible  to  evangelize  in  this  gen- 
eration the  Southern  two-thirds  of  Madagascar  if 
the  progress  of  Christian  effort  is  proportionate 
in  the  next  thirty-three  years  to  what  it  has  been 
during  the  past  thirty-three  years,  during  which 
period  of  time  my  missionary  society  has  been  la- 
boring in  that  island.  The  Northern  one-third  of 
Madagascar  has  no  Protestant  mission  within  it, 
but  the  Jesuits  intend  to  keep  this  field  exclusively 
to  themselves.  I  fully  believe  that  the  half  a  mil- 
lion inhabitants  in  the  Northern  one-third  can  also 
be  evangelized  in  this  generation  if  a  sufficient 
number  of  missionaries  go  thither/^  ^ 

For  twenty  years  Rev.  G.  A.  Landes  has  worked 
in  Brazil  as  a  missionary  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America.  The 
following  is  his  estimate  of  what  would  be  required 
to  evangelize  that  great  field  :  '^  There  is  no  other 
country  in  the  world  where  the  difficulty  of  reach- 
ing the  people  is  so  great,  owing  to  the  immense 
territory  over  which  they  are  scattered.    However, 

1  lietter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 
146 


OPINIONS    OF    CHRISTIAN   LEADERS 

notwithstanding  this  difficulty,  I  am  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  mass  of  the  people  in  Brazil  could  be 
evangelized  within  this  generation  by  a  great  en- 
largement of  the  agencies  at  present  employed  by 
the  missionary  societies.  To  evangelize  Brazil  in 
this  generation  it  would  be  necessary  to  augment 
the  present  ordained  missionary  force  by  120  more 
ordained  missionaries  including  their  wives,  and 
that  the  present  teaching  force  be  increased  by  300 
good  Christian  teachers.  With  this  new  army  of 
workers,  guided  by  God^s  Word,  Spirit,  and  Prov- 
idence, I  believe  a  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  could 
be  given,  in  this  generation,  to  the  mass  of  the 
people  in  Brazil.^'  ^ 

Eev.  Sydney  L.  Gulick,  missionary  of  the  Amer- 
ican Board  in  Japan,  giving  considerations  show- 
ing why  Japan  can  and  should  be  evangelized  in 
this  generation,  says  :  ^'  The  Gospel  easily  can  be 
preached  to  every  person  in  Japan  within  the  next 
thirty  years  if  the  Christians  of  America  and  Great 
Britain  determine  to  do  it  and  use  common  sense 
in  doing  it.  Every  door  is  open.  The  millions 
are  ready  to  listen  and  multitudes  are  eager  to 
know  of  this  religion  of  the  West.  Japan  is  in  a 
formative  stage  ;  old  thoughts  and  customs  are 
rapidly  passing  away.     No  generation  in  Japan  in 

'  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 
147 


THE  EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

the  past  has  ever  been  so  plastic  and  open  to  the 
Gospel  as  the  present  one.  Unless  we  give  it 
Christianity  it  will  grow  up  without  any  specific 
religions  instruction.  Surely  these  are  strong 
enough  reasons  for  evangelizing  Japan  in  this 
generation/'^ 

Dr.  J.  D.  Davis,  one  of  the  oldest  missionaries 
in  Japan  and  one  who  for  years  labored  with 
Neesima  in  the  Doshisha,  gives  the  following  state- 
ment on  the  subject :  "  The  duty  and  responsibil- 
ity of  the  Church  to  '  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature '  within  one  generation  is  very  clear.  The 
doors  are  open  ;  the  Bible  is  ready  in  the  language 
of  most  of  the  nations  ;  the  world  is  narrowed ;  it 
can  almost  be  said,  there  is  no  more  sea.  Distance 
is  being  annihilated  on  sea  and  on  land.  The 
Church  possesses  numbers  sufficient  to  furnish 
and  support  the  workers  necessary.  There  is  ma- 
chinery enough ;  there  are  wheels  enough.  It 
is  only  needed  that  the  Spirit  of  God  shall  move 
within  the  wheels.  Thousands  or  tens  of  thousands 
of  'volunteers'  cannot  do  this  work  unless  the 
Church  itself  is  aroused  to  send  them  and  sus- 
tain them  and  their  work  with  its  prayers  and 
money.  The  Church  has  had  to  wait  for  the  doors 
of  the  nations  to  be  opened,  for  the  world  to  be 

*  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 
148 


OPINIONS    OF    CHRISTIAN   LEADERS 

narrowed,  for  the  Bible  to  be  translated  ;  but  the 
Church  has  no  need  to  wait  even  one  day  for  the 
factor  which  is  lacking  to  accomplish  this  work 
in  one  generation.  God  waits  to  give  it ;  Christ  is 
ready  to  baptize  all  hearts  with  the  ^Holy  Ghost 
and  with  fire/  so  that  all  selfishness  will  be  con- 
sumed with  love,  and  all  money  will  be  melted  and 
reminted  and  stamped  with  the  image  and  super- 
scription of  Christ,  Were  this  done,  the  un- 
churched and  unsaved  millions  of  the  so-called 
Christian  nations  would  be  won  to  Christ  and  the 
unconverted  millions  who  have  never  heard  would 
hear  the  Gospel  within  one  generation."  ^ 

The  considerations  mentioned  by  Dr.  S.  H. 
Wainright,  Principal  of  the  Southern  Methodist 
College  at  Kobe,  Japan,  should  not  be  overlooked  : 
^'  May  we  hope  to  evangelize  the  world  in  the 
present  generation  ?  We  cannot  give  a  negative 
answer,  for  no  man  has  a  right  to  set  limitations 
to  the  power  and  resources  of  God,  nor  can  any- 
one say  concerning  the  possibilities  of  human 
faith,  thus  far  thou  canst  go,  but  no  farther. "^ 

Dr.  Samuel  A.  Moffett,  a  Presbyterian  mission- 
ary in  Korea,  indicates  the  conditions  on  which 
that  country  might  be  evangelized  in  our  lifetime  : 

'  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 
2  Ibid. 

149 


THE   EVAJs^GELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

''  Korea  can  be  evangelized  within  a  generation ; 
but  in  order  to  accomplish  it  there  is  needed  an 
added  force  of  forty  thoroughly  qualified  mission- 
aries of  enthusiastic,  victorious  faith  in  God  and 
His  message.  It  would  also  be  necessary  to  have 
on  the  home  field,  a  Church  willing  to  send  them 
and  to  stand  back  of  them  in  prayer,  led  by  pas- 
tors who  will  influence  their  people  to  appreciate 
the  privilege  as  well  as  the  duty  of  the  Church  to 
perform  its  God-given  office  of  world-wide  evan- 
gelization."^ 

Dr.  John  Ross,  who  has  been  working  in  Man- 
churia for  nearly  thirty  years  as  a  representative 
of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland, 
writes  :  ^'  It  was  largely  overlooked  formerly — I 
am  not  sure  that  it  is  fully  understood  yet — that 
in  the  work  of  making  the  Kingdom  of  God  coex- 
tensive with  man  God  and  man  are  ^  fellow-work- 
ers.* In  the  spiritual  as  in  the  material  harvest 
man  must  perform  his  share  or  no  grain  will  be 
garnered.  As  soon  would  we  expect  to  see  ripe 
grain  walk  into  the  farmer^s  yard  as  to  see  the 
Kingdom  of  God  planted  in  the  world  without 
human  labor.  To  secure  the  material  harvest  man 
was  ordained  to  do  so  in  the  sweat  of  his  brow. 
To  secure  the  spiritual  harvest  the  *  laborers '  are 

*  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 
150 


OPINIONS    OF    CHRISTIAN   LEADEES 

commanded  to  go  '  into  all  tlie  world.'  God  will 
do  His  part,  He  will  not  do  man's.  The  world 
would  have  been  evangelized  a  thousand  years  ago 
had  the  Christian  Church  done  its  duty.  And 
God  will  do  His  part  any  year  in  the  20th  century 
if  man  will  but  do  his."  ^ 

The  Cliuiese  Recorder  contains  an  appeal  by 
Eev.  J.  C.  Garritt,  a  missionary  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  from  which  the  following  is  taken  : 
^'  China  for  Christ  in  this  generation.  Why  not  ? 
-  .  .  In  this  generation  what  doubt  is  there  that 
China  will  be  swept  irresistibly  into  the  stream  of 
the  world's  competition  ?  The  West  will  not  wait 
till  a  later  generation.  Why  should  the  Church 
wait  till  a  later  generation  ?  .  .  .  How  splendidly 
equipped  the  Church  is  to-day  to  win  not  China 
only,  but  the  world  for  Christ  in  one  generation  I 
What  resources  are  at  the  command  of  the  nations 
that  the  Church  does  not  possess  ?  Worldly  power 
and  prestige  certainly  do  not  count  for  as  much  as 
the  power  of  the  Maker  of  the  world,  by  whom  and 
for  whom  all  things  were  created  and  in  whom  all 
things  consist !  If  the  world  has  money  the  Church 
does  not  lack.  If  the  world  has  men,  brains,  wis- 
dom, the  Church  has  men,  talents,  prudence.  If 
the  world  has  agents  to  watch  for,  report,  and  take 

*  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 
151 


THE    EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

advantage  of  opportunities,  the  Church  has  her 
agents  too.  .  .  .  God  is  on  our  side,  and  His 
infinite  power,  wisdom  and  grace  can  never  fail. 
...  0  Church  of  the  living  God  !  Take  this 
one  word,  IMMANUEL,  and  plant  the  standard 
of  the  cross  in  every  land  under  the  sun  ! "  ^ 

Dr.  Griffith  John,  writing  after  nearly  half  a 
century  of  experience  in  China  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  asserts  his 
belief  that  ''  it  is  possible  to  evangelize  the  world 
in  this  generation  if  the  Church  will  but  do  her 
duty.  The  trouble  is  not  with  the  heathen.  A 
dead  Church  will  prevent  it,  if  it  is  prevented. 
Why  should  it  not  be  accomplished  ?  God  will  have 
all  men  to  be  saved  and  come  unto  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth.  The  resources  of  the  Church  are 
boundless.  Let  the  will  of  the  Church  be  brought 
into  line  with  the  will  of  God,  and  nothing  will 
be  found  to  be  impossible.      May  God  grant  it !  "  ^ 

Dr.  A.  P.  Parker,  a  missionary  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  in  China,  writes  :  ^'The 
idea  of  the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this 
generation  is  reasonable.  The  plan  is  perfectly 
feasible.  There  are  men  enough  and  there  is 
money  enough    in   the    Protestant    churches  of 

*  The  Chinese  Recorder^  Aug.,  1899,  pp.  387-390. 
'  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 
15g 


OPINIONS    OF    CHRISTIAN    LEADERS 

Europe  and  America  to  do  the  work.  It  can  be 
done.     And  it  ought  to  be  done."  ^ 

Kev.  James  Jackson,  Principal  of  the  Kiukiang 
Institute  in  China,  gives  his  opinion  as  follows : 
^'  Our  responsibility  surely  is  to  the  men  of  our 
own  generation.  No  Christian  will  venture  to  say 
that  our  Lord  has  laid  upon  His  Church  an  im- 
possible task,  or  that  it  is  His  will  and  purpose 
that  generation  after  generation  of  men  should 
pass  away  into  the  unseen  world  without  the  op- 
portunity of  hearing  and  embracing  the  way  of 
salvation,  the  knowledge  of  which  He  has  en- 
trusted to  his  Church  and  for  the  spread  of  which 
He  has  made  His  disciples  responsible.  "^ 

Mr.  Robert  E.  Speer,  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  in  speaking  at  the 
First  International  Convention  of  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement,  called  attention  to  the  neces- 
sity of  a  right  attitude  of  mind  and  heart  toward 
the  subject  if  one  would  believe  in  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  world  in  this  generation  as  a  possibility. 
He  said  :  ''  Our  position  on  the  question  of  possi- 
bility will  be  largely  determined  by  our  views  of 
its  desirability.     If  we  do  not  think  we  want  the 

^  Letter  i»  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement, 
8  Ibid. 

163 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

•world  evangelized,  we  will  not  have  to  search  far 
before  we  find  it  impossible  to  evangelize  it.  But 
if  to-night,  face  to  face  with  our  glorified  Master, 
we  catch  His  Spirit,  hear  His  word,  and  are  will- 
ing to  do  His  will,  and  will  open  our  hearts  a  little 
to  catch  that  other  cry  that  comes  across  the  seas 
to-night  from  every  heathen  land,  I  do  not  think  we 
can  refrain  from  brushing  away  a  great  many  objec- 
tions to  the  possibility  of  the  evangelization  of  the 
world  in  this  generation  that  may  now  confront 
our  view.  .  .  .  This  is  not  a  human  issue. 
God  is  in  it.  I  have  said  that  there  is  nothing  in 
the  world  or  the  Church,  except  its  disobedience, 
to  render  the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this 
generation  an  impossibility.  .  .  .  It  is  possible 
so  far  as  God  is  concerned.  Nay  more,  it  finds  its 
pledge  and  inspiration  in  Him.  We  often  talk  as 
though  God  was  not  interested  in  this  question. 
We  enumerate  our  human  forces  and  look  over  the 
field  to  be  possessed,  and,  just  as  we  are  hopeful 
or  despondent,  say  it  can  or  cannot  be  done.  But 
this  leaves  out  the  mightiest  force  of  all.  You  re- 
call the  question  said  to  have  been  asked  Luther 
by  his  wife  in  one  of  his  despairing  moods, — a 
question,  I  believe,  alleged  to  have  been  addressed 
to  Frederick  Douglass  also,  by  Sojourner  Truth, — 
*  Is  God  dead  ? '  I  repeat  it  to  those  of  you  who 
154 


OPINIONS    OF    CHRISTIAN   LEADERS 

doubt  and  hesitate  to-night:  'Is  God  dead  ?'  If 
we  cannot  rely  on  Him  I  am  willing  to  surrender 
the  whole  question/' ^ 

Dr.  Henry  C.  Mabie,  Corresponding  Secretary  of 
the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  writes 
thus  upon  the  subject :  *'  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
insisting  upon  the  universal  duty  in  Christendom 
everywhere  of  immediate  application,  without  re- 
serve, of  all  our  powers  to  the  evangelization  of 
the  whole  world.  Certainly  all  will  agree  that  the 
duty  of  each  generation  to  its  generation  is  im- 
perative and  universal.  Then  also  I  believe  that 
the  Church  has  never  risen  to  anything  like  a 
comprehension  of  what  God  waits  to  do  when  His 
Church  will  get  into  line.  The  surprises  of  grace, 
the  miracles  of  converting  power,  the  rapid  tri- 
umphs of  the  Gospel  would  astonish  the  whole 
earth  if  God  were  really  put  to  the  test.  The 
master  temptation  of  the  devil  is  to  secure  pro- 
crastination on  the  part  of  the  Church  respecting 
the  world's  evangelization.  Of  course  this  tempta- 
tion should  be  resisted  at  every  point,  and  if  it 
were  nations  would  soon  be  born  in  a  day.''^ 

'"Report  of  the  First  International  Convention  of  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement,"  75,  79. 

2  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Move- 
ment. 

105 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE    WORLD 

Dr.  George  Robson,  of  Scotland,  the  editor  of 
The  Missio7iary  Record  in  a  review  of  Professor 
Warneck's  paper  on  ^'  The  Modern  Theory  of  the 
Evangelization  of  the  World,"  says  :  *'  If  the 
Church  would  realise  her  relations  to  her  enthroned 
Lord,  if  she  would  duly  awake  to  her  opportuni- 
ties, responsibilities,  and  resources,  and  if  her  re- 
sources were  more  fully  consecrated  to  the  service 
of  the  Lord,  there  would  be  little  difficulty,  within 
one  generation,  in  covering  the  whole  open  field 
of  heathendom  with  centres  of  evangelisation  suf- 
ficiently near  each  other  to  diffuse  the  gospel  over 
the  intervening  spaces."^ 

Kev.  Alexander  MacKennal,  President  of  the 
Free  Church  Council,  in  an  address  at  the  Inter- 
national Student  Volunteer  Conference  in  London 
in  January,  1900,  said  :  '^  We  seemed  to  recognize 
in  the  beating  of  the  young  heart  towards  that 
nobler  possibility,  the  motto  of  which  [the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world  in  this  generation]  is  upon 
this  platform  before  me — I  say,  we  saw  in  that 
the  indications  of  something  deeper  than  belonged 
to  the  thoughts  and  counsels  of  man.  For  my- 
self, ...  I  felt  first  the  audacity  of  the  pro- 
posal, then  the  reasonableness  of  the  proposal,  and 

'  The    Missionary    Record    of  the    United    Preshyterian 
Churchy  October  1,  1897,  p.  299 
15S 


OPINIONS   OF    CHRISTIAN   LEADERS 

lastly  that  the  confidence  of  young  men  and 
women  would  carry  it  into  effect  I  was  sure.  It 
seemed  to  me  that  the  very  finger  of  God  was 
pointing  the  way  and  the  Spirit  of  God  inspiring 
the  endeavor."  ^ 

At  the  London  Volunteer  Conference  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  closed  his  address  on  '*  Evan- 
gelization the  Primary  Duty  of  the  Church  ''  with 
the  following  statement  regarding  the  possibility 
of  the  evangelization  of  the  world  :  '^  The  aim  of 
this  Union  [Student  Volunteer  Missionary  Union] 
is  that  the  Name  of  Christ  shall  be  made  known 
to  all  the  nations  of  the  world  within  this  present 
generation,  that  is,  that  before  those  who  are  now 
living  shall  altogether  pass  away,  there  shall  not 
be  one  spot  upon  the  earth  where  the  name  of 
Christ,  and  the  Cross  of  Christ,  and  the  Love 
of  Christ,  and  the  Love  of  God  the  Father  is  not 
known,  whether  they  will  accept  it  or  reject  it. 
"VVe  know  not  how  God  may  bless  all  the  work 
that  we  may  do,  but  it  is  not  an  inconceivable 
thing  that,  as  God  has  within  the  last  generation 
opened  the  way,  so  within  the  present  generation 
He  may  crown  His  work.  When  we  have  preached 
the  Gospel  to  every  nation,  there  will  still  be 
Christian  work  to  be  done,  but,  at  any  rate,  it 
'  "  Students  and  the  Missionary  Problem,"  18. 
157 


THE   EVANCKLIZATrON   (W   THli]   WOULD 

seems  now  as  if  we  wlio  are  now  living,  the  young 
men  amongst  ns  who  are  now  joining  this  very 
Union,  those  who  are  now  studying  the  great  task 
to  which  the  Lord  has  called  them,  shall,  before 
they  die,  bo  able  to  say,  *  The  whole  race  of  man- 
kind is  not  yet  Christian,  but,  nevertheless,  there 
is  no  nation  upon  earth  where  the  Christian  faith 
is  not  taught  if  men  will  accept  it  ;  there  is  no 
place  upon  the  whole  surface  of  the  globe  where 
men  may  not  hear  the  nu>ssage  of  God  and  the 
story  of  the  Cross  if  only  they  are  willing  to  listen. 
It  is  brought  home  to  them  everywhere  at  their 
very  doors,  and  the  Church,  at  any  rate,  has 
discharged  the  ])riniary  duty  of  all  her  duties: 
she  has  made  all  nations  hear  the  sound  of  the 
Gospel,  she  has  made  all  nations  hear  of  the 
Love  of  the  Lord  and  of  His  great  Sacrifice/ ''  ^ 

At  the  close  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference, 
held  at  New  York  in  1000,  the  General  Com- 
mittee prepared  an  address  to  the  Church.  This 
address  was  read  at  a  meeting  attended  by  repre- 
sentatives of  missionary  societies  of  all  parts  of 
Christendom  jind  was  adopted  unanimously.  It 
concluded  thus  :  ^^  Entrusting  to  ITini  the  certain 
guidance  of  the  great  tides  of  inllucnce  and  life 
which  are  beyond  our  control,  it  is  for  us  to  keep 
*  *' Students  and  the  Missionary  Problem,"  57. 
158 


(;f'iMo.\s  oi'-  f;m'JS'riA.\   ij:Af>j:/{S 

ll)f;  f;ofnff);ui'lrri(;nt,H  of   Hi.';  Son  .'in'i  <:ujvy  \.u  fJiOHO 

U)V    V/llO/J)     Iff;     liv'cd     U.]\<\    (\\<-(\     U.]\<\     ]•<)?.(',    'A.ifUAW     fijfi 

rrjf;HH;i,rrr;  of  Ui^,  i'<)fA\\<;\':\  ;ui'l  love  of  Uif.ir  I'';i.Uif;r 
and  ourH.  W'f;  wfio  live  fiow  ;i,n'J  fin.vf;  Ujj'h  rrjf;-';- 
BJir^*"'-  muHl  f^'trry  it,  f,o  tJiOr;(;  who  Jivf;  now  und  ;j,rf; 
wiUiout  it,.  If,  i:-;  \.\\t-  duly  of  cm.<;\\  ;.^(;nf;r,'i,f,ion 
of  C'li  rlst,i;i,nH  to  rn.'ikf;  .J^hiih  C.'liri;;t,  kfiowfj  t,o 
t,}i<;ir  ff;Ilow  ore;;).!, iij-';;-!.  It,  in  our  dut,y  Ihrou;/}] 
our   own    \)T(-M<)\\(-ry.    ;i,nd    tJjrjHO    forof'.H   find    inntj"- 

tut.ion.H     wiiir;)]      r.a-OW      \\\)      WJK-.ro     t.liO     GoHJ^f;!      [iff;- 

vaiJ.H,  to  att'inji^t  now  thf;  H[jf;f;dy  f;v;).nr.(f:llz;ition 
of  tljo  wholf;  world.  W'c,  \i(:\\c/;(\  tlii.H  to  fjo  God'a 
prf;.~f;nt  o;i,Il,  ^  W'iiorn  ;-:}j;i,1I  I  Kfind  ,M,r)d  wdjo  will 
go  for  liH?'  Wo  ?i.[;[)<;al  to  ;j,I!  <'.'liri-;ti;i,n  rnini;-,tf;rH 
Hot  \))'  di  virjo  J/pf^ointrri'int  ;).;-;  loM/iorn  of  tho  poo|Jo, 
to  Ijoar  tliin  oall  and  Hjj'iak  it  to  t}j(;  Cfjurch, 
arjd  v/o  ajjpo;i,l  to  ajl  Ood'.-;  [jooj^Io  to  afj:r//(;r  an 
with  orjf;  voioo,  '  liOJ-d,  iioro  '.un  I,  Hond  mo.'"' 

'  Quoted  in    The  Sunday  School   Txmch^  May  10,   I'iOO.  p. 
307. 


180 


VIII 

FACTORS  ESSENTIAL  TO  THE  EVANGELIZATION 
OF  THE  WORLD  IN  THIS   GENERATION 

Factors  on  the  mission  field. 

If  the  world  is  to  be  evangelized  in  this  genera- 
tion more  missionaries  mnst  be  sent  out.  There 
are  still  extensive  regions  without  a  foreign  worker, 
notably  in  the  interior  of  Africa  and  of  China, 
and  in  unoccupied  lands  like  Tibet,  Afghanistan 
and  parts  of  the  Turkish  Empire.  Even  in  the 
countries  best  supplied  with  workers  there  are  dis- 
tricts with  hundreds  of  towns  and  villages  in  which 
a  missionary  is  seldom  or  never  heard.  Taking 
the  unevangelized  world  as  a  whole  the  present 
force  is  absolutely  inadequate. 

Missionaries  are  needed  for  all  forms  of  work. 
As  there  is  in  the  non-Christian  world  only  one 
medical  missionary  to  every  1,400,000  people,  it 
will  be  seen  that  there  is  need  of  hundreds  of  this 
kind  of  laborers.  The  fact  that  many  missionary 
teachers  are  so  overburdened  that  they  are  unable 
to  use  their  opportunities  to  secure  evangelistic 
160 


ESSENTIAL   FACTOES 

results,  and  that  there  are  not  a  few  districts  in 
which  educational  institutions  need  to  be  estab- 
lished for  the  training  of  native  workers  to  evan- 
gelize their  peoples,  makes  it  clear  that  more  men 
and  women  must  be  sent  out  to  engage  in  teaching. 
The  literary  work  of  missions  calls  for  large  rein- 
forcements from  Christian  lands.  Thousands  of 
women  missionaries  are  imperatively  needed  to  in- 
sure the  evangelization  of  the  multitudes  of  women 
in  the  world.  In  some  missions  the  material 
equipment  of  educational,  medical  and  literary 
missionary  work  is  sufficient  to  warrant  an  evan- 
gelistic utilization  of  these  aids  several-fold  greater 
than  at  present.  In  other  places  the  facilities  for 
all  kinds  of  mission  work  have  still  to  be  created. 
Without  doubt  the  greatest  need  in  all  missions 
and  in  connection  with  all  societies  is  that  of  a 
large  increase  of  the  evangelistic  force. 

More  missionaries  are  needed  to  help  reach  the 
unevangelized  masses.  They  are  needed  to  help 
solve  the  problems  of  the  native  Church  and  to 
meet  the  crisis  which  confronts  the  Church  in 
nearly  every  land.  They  are  indispensable  to  the 
development  of  the  native  Church — by  helping  to 
root  and  ground  the  native  Christians  in  the  faith, 
by  bringing  to  them  the  lessons  of  the  history  of 
Christianity  in  tlie  West,  by  helping  to  build  up 
161 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE    WORLD 

a  Christian  literature  in  tlie  native  tongues,  by 
promoting  right  habits  of  Bible  study  and  prayer, 
by  suggesting  tried  and  approved  methods  of 
Christian  work,  and  by  training,  guiding  and  in- 
spiring the  native  workers  to  extend  the  Kingdom 
of  Christ  among  their  own  people. 

In  locating  the  missionaries  there  should  be  due 
regard  to  Providential  openings,  to  the  regions 
totally  unoccupied,  to  the  location  of  missionaries 
of  other  societies,  to  the  distribution  of  the  pop- 
ulation, to  the  comparative  receptivity  of  the  sev- 
eral classes  of  people  and  to  other  considerations 
incident  to  the  work  to  be  done  and  the  qualifica- 
tions of  the  workers. 

Leading  authorities  in  all  the  great  mission  fields 
have  been  asked  to  estimate  how  many  mission- 
aries, in  addition  to  native  assistants,  would  be 
required  so  to  lead  the  missionary  enterprise  as  to 
accomplish  the  evangelization  of  those  countries 
within  a  generation.  The  highest  number  sug- 
gested by  any  one  is  one  missionary  to  every 
10,000  of  the  heathen  population.  Few  gave  a 
lower  estimate  than  one  to  100,000.  The  average 
number  given  is  one  to  50,000.  The  number  most 
frequently  specified  is  one  to  20,000.  If  we  follow 
the  last  proportion,  it  would  call  for  an  increase  of 
the  present  missionary  force  from  15,000  to  50,000. 
162 


ESSENTIAL   FACTORS 

The  Church  in  Christian  lands  is  well  able  to 
supply  the  number  of  missionaries  required  to 
evangelize  the  world.  To  make  up  the  entire  num- 
ber called  for  would  take  but  a  small  fraction  of 
the  Christian  students  who  will  graduate  within 
this  generation.  It  would  require  less  than  one- 
fourth  as  many  men  as  now  constitute  the  Prot- 
estant clergy  and  ministry  of  North  America  and 
the  British  Isles.  The  present  distribution  of  la- 
borers is  not  only  uneven  but  unfair.  Dr.  George 
W.  Northrop,  in  an  address  in  which  he  appealed 
for  an  enlargement  of  the  missionary  force  to  one 
missionary  for  every  fifty  thousand  heathen,  says  : 
"We  challenge  any  man  to  adduce  reasons  which 
will  approach  to  a  justification  of  the  course  of  the 
Christian  churches  in  distributing  their  forces 
over  this  common  missionary  ground — the  whole 
world — in  such  an  extraordinarily  uneven  way, 
putting  one  minister  in  charge  of  300  people,  many 
of  whom  are  Christians,  and  another,  of  no  greater 
ability,  in  charge  of  300,000,  of  whom  all,  or  nearly 
all,  are  pagans."^ 

While  the  sud'den  increase  of  the  number  of 
missionaries  by  thousands  might  prove  unwise, 
there  is  little  danger  that  serious  consequences 
would  result  from  a  gradual  enlargement  of  the 

'  The  Baptist  Missionary  Magazine,  July,  1891,  p.  194. 
163 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF    THE   WORLD 

foreign  force.  Moreover,  the  calculations  which 
have  been  given  by  different  missionaries  of  the 
number  of  foreign  workers  required  for  achieving 
the  evangelization  of  the  world  within  this  genera- 
tion have  been  given  simply  as  illustrations  of  what 
might  be  accomplished  if  the  Church  gave  herself 
to  the  task.  Professor  Warneck  is  right  in  point- 
ing out  that  mere  numbers  of  missionaries  afford 
no  sure  guarantee  of  desired  results.^  At  the  same 
time  it  will  be  conceded  by  all  that  neither  can 
these  results  be  secured  without  a  great  enlarge- 
ment of  the  number  of  missionaries. 

The  missionaries  who  are  sent  out  to  evangelize 
the  world  should  be  men  of  the  highest  qualifica- 
tions. The  success  of  the  undertaking  depends 
even  more  upon  the  quality  of  the  workers  than 
upon  their  number.  The  Apostolic  Church  set 
apart  some  of  her  ablest  men  for  this  work.  Surely 
an  undertaking  of  such  difficulty  as  that  involved 
in  extending  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  in  all  the 
earth  calls  for  the  strongest  and  the  best.  Well  has 
Professor  Legge  urged  that  '*■  missionaries  ouglit 
to  be  the  foremost  men  whom  the  Christian  Church 
possesses  ;  the  men  who  have  intermeddled  most 
with,  and  gone  deepest  into  all  knowledge  ;  whose 

^  "Diemoderne  Weltevangelisations-Theorie."  Allgemeinc 
Missions-ZeHschrift.     Vol.  XXIV.,  320. 
164 


ESSENTIAL    FACTOES 

intellectual  resources  are  the  largest,  whose  prac- 
tical and  persuasive  ability  is  the  finest,  and  whose 
temper  is  the  most  under  their  control ;  the  most 
fervent  in  spirit,  the  largest  in  mind,  and  the  most 
capable  in  action/^  ^  Generally  speaking,  the  mis- 
sionary needs  a  better  all-round  prei:>aration  than 
the  home  pastor. 

On  the  spirituality  of  the  missionary  more  than 
upon  any  other  one  factor  on  the  mission  field 
depends  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  Par 
more  vital  than  the  physical,  social  and  intellectual 
equipment  of  the  missionary  is  his  spiritual  fur- 
nishing. It  is  supremely  and  indispensably  im- 
portant that  he  be  a  man  filled  with  the  spirit  of 
Christ.  This  point  is  being  emphasized  to-day  by 
missionaries  on  every  field.  They  maintain  that 
unless  the  missionary  be  under  the  sway  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  he  will,  in  the  midst  of  deadening 
heathen  influences,  become  cold  and  indifferent, 
his  preaching  will  be  fruitless,  the  examj^le  of  his 
own  life  will  be  powerless  and  he  will  be  unable 
properly  to  lead  and  to  energize  the  native  workers. 
Dr.  Griffith  John  in  dwelling  on  the  last  consid- 
eration says:  '^The  quality  of  the  native  agent 
will  very  much  depend  upon  the  quality  of  the 

* "  Proceedings  of  the  General   Conference  on   Foreiga 
Missions"  (held  at  Mildmay,  1878),  178. 
165 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOELD 

foreign  missionary.  An  unspiritual,  self-indul- 
gent missionary  is  not  likely  to  surround  himself 
with  capable,  spiritual,  earnest,  and  devoted  native 
helpers."  ^  Too  much  stress,  therefore,  cannot  be 
placed  on  having  missionary  candidates  form  the 
habit  of  thorough  and  devotional  Bible  study  be- 
fore they  go  to  the  field,  because  a  man  mighty  in 
the  Scriptures  is  almost  sure  to  be  mighty  in  Chris- 
tian work.  The  enterprise  of  world-wide  evangel- 
ization calls  also  for  missionaries  of  spiritual  vision 
and  of  victorious  faith  in  God  and  in  His  message. 
Kev.  Thomas  Green,  Principal  of  the  Church 
Missionary  College  at  Islington,  years  ago  summed 
up  the  spiritual  qualifications  of  the  missionary  in 
the  following  words  : ''  The  men  we  want  are  men  of 
God,  truly  converted  in  heart,  and  holy  in  life ;  bap- 
tized with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire  ;  taught  by 
the  Spirit ;  led  by  the  Spirit ;  filled  with  the  Spirit ; 
men  of  one  idea,  one  aim,  one  object ;  like  the  Great 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  counting  all  things  but 
loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ ; 
determined  not  to  know  anything  save  Jesus  Christ 
and  Him  crucified ;  loving  Christ,  living  Christ, 
ready  and  willing,  if  need  be,  to  die  for  Christ."  ^ 

^  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement 
'"Conference    on  Missions"  (held   at  Liverpool,  1860), 


100 


ESSENTIAL   FACTORS 

To  evangelize  the  world  in  tliis  generation  it  is 
essential  that  there  be  a  great  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  well-qualified  native  Christian  workers.  As 
Pastor  V.  Sorensen  of  Denmark  indicates,  the  task 
cannot  be  accomi3lished  by  flooding  the  non -Chris- 
tian lands  with  foreign  missionaries.^  Thousands 
of  missionaries  in  addition  to  those  now  on  the 
field  are  needed  to  lead  the  enterprise  of  missions, 
and  especially  to  reach  the  absolutely  unevangel- 
ized  regions ;  but  it  may  be  safely  estimated  that 
for  every  thousand  missionaries  there  will  be 
needed  ten  thousand  native  workers.  The  evan- 
gelization of  Asia  and  Africa  should  not,  therefore, 
be  regarded  chiefly  as  a  European  or  an  American, 
but  rather  as  an  Asiatic  and  an  African  enterprise. 

There  are  manifest  advantages  in  enlisting  as 
many  suitably-qualified  native  Christians  as  possi- 
ble in  the  work  of  evangelization.  They  are  ac- 
climatized and  therefore  able  to  work  at  all  seasons. 
They  can  live  and  labor  in  their  own  country  at 
comparatively  small  expense.  They  are  able  to 
come  into  more  intimate  social  contact  with  their 
own  people  than  one  foreigner  in  a  hundred  can 
hope  to  do.  The  natives  can  travel,  eat,  lodge, 
live  with  the  people ;    the  missionary  has  exotic 

*  **  Forhandlingarna  vid  det  femte  nordisk-lutherska  mi* 
slonsmotet,"  87-93. 

167 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF    THE    WORLD 

habits.  The  native  workers  naturally  have  fluent 
command  of  the  vocabulary  and  idioms  of  the  lan- 
guage. They  have  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
the  habitual  trains  of  thought,  the  currents  of 
feeling  and  the  springs  of  action.  They  under- 
stand the  native  character  and  are  the  best  judges 
of  the  motives  and  sincerity  of  those  among 
whom  they  work.  They  know  the  difficulties, 
temptations,  doubts  and  prejudices  of  the  people. 
In  view  of  such  considerations  as  these  they  will 
always  have  the  most  abundant  and  effective  ac- 
cess to  their  own  countrymen. 

Experience  teaches  that  natives  have  been  the 
chief  human  factor  in  the  evangelization  of  dif- 
ferent countries.  No  extensive  field  has  ever 
been  thoroughly  evangelized  but  by  its  own  sons. 
This  seems  to  be  God's  method.  Eminent  and 
successful  missionaries  have  emphasized  by  word 
and  by  jDractice  the  essential  character  of  the  na- 
tive arm  of  the  service.  Duff  said  that  ''when 
the  set  time  arrives,  the  real  Reformers  of  Hin- 
dustan, will  be  qualified  Hindus.  ^^^  Neesima  in 
speaking  after  years  of  observation  and  experience 
in  Japan  expressed  his  conviction  that  "  the  best 
possible  method  to  evangelize  her  people  is  to  raise 
up  a  native  agency,  and  such  an  agency  can  be  only 
*  "  India,  and  India  Missions,"  331. 
168 


ESSENTIAL   FACTORS 

secured  by  imparting  the  highest  Christian  culture 
to  the  best  youths  to  be  found."  ^  Mackay  not  long 
before  his  death  said  :  '^  The  agency  by  which, 
and  probably  by  which  alone,  we  can  Christianize 
Africa,  is  the  African  himself.  But  he  must  first 
be  trained  for  that  work,  and  trained,  too,  by  the 
European  in  Africa."  ^  Dr.  Nevius  repeatedly 
expressed  his  belief  that  ''  the  millions  of  China 
must  be  brought  to  Christ  by  Chinamen."  ^  Dr. 
Griffith  John  recently  wrote  that  "  the  remarkable 
ingathering  of  the  past  few  years  in  Fukien, 
Hupeh,  Hunan,  Manchuria  and  other  parts  of 
China,  is  to  be  attributed,  under  God,  mainly  to 
the  efficiency,  earnestness  and  assiduity  of  our 
native  brethren."  ^  Dr.  Goodrich,  in  writing  from 
North  China  about  the  important  part  which 
native  agents  must  have  in  spreading  a  knowledge 
of  Christ,  said  :  ''^  Whether  considered  politically, 
economically,  sociologically,  or  historically,  this 
is  the  only  sound  policy  and  effective  method  of 
evangelizing  a  great  nation."  ^ 

'  Mr.  Luther  D.  Wishard,  "  A  New  Programme  of  Mis- 
sions," 30. 

^  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer^  Sept.,  1891,  p.  674. 

^"Records  of  the  General  Conference  of  the  Protestant 
Missionaries  of  China"  (held  at  Shanghai,  1890),  171. 

^Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 

5  Ibid. 

169 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF    THE   WORLD 

One  of  the  most  difficult  problems  on  the  mis- 
sion field  is  that  of  raising  up  and  training  this 
force  of  suitable  native  workers.  They  should  be 
men  with  clear  knowledge  of  the  truths  essential 
to  salvation,  men  of  true  piety,  men  earnest  and 
effective  in  service.  That  it  is  not  an  easy  matter 
to  secure  them,  every  missionary  can  testify.  The 
unreliability,  the  lack  of  spirituality,  the  want  of 
resourcefulness  and  the  low  ideals  and  motives 
which  characterize  so  many  native  agents  is  a 
source  of  much  discouragement.  So  while  there 
should  be  due  regard  to  obtaining  large  numbers 
of  workers  and  to  distributing  them  wisely,  the 
main  concern  must  be  to  enlist  and  build  up 
workers  who  will  be  really  efficient.  This  calls 
for  thorough  and  prolonged  training.  Strongly 
manned  theological  seminaries  are  greatly  needed 
on  the  mission  field.  Without  doubt  the  greatest 
work  of  the  missionary  is  to  make  missionaries. 
In  no  other  way  can  he  so  multiply  himself.  Some 
missionaries  claim  that  each  missionary  should  aim 
to  train  a  band  of  at  least  ten  native  workers. 
What  a  work  was  achieved  by  the  missionaries  who, 
under  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  gave  the 
Christian  impulse  to  Moses  Kya  in  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  to  Sheshadri  in  India,  to  Sau  Quala,  the 
Karen  evangelist,  to  Tiyo  Soga  among  the  Kaffirs, 
170 


ESSENTIAL   FACTORS 

to  Bishop  Crowther  in  Western  Africa.  Merely 
intellectual  culture  and  foreign  money  alone  can 
never  produce  such  evangelists.  They  are  the  gift 
of  God  through  the  spiritual  example,  feeding  and 
training  of  Christ-like  missionaries.^ 

The  need  of  an  army  of  competent  native  work- 
ers emphasizes  the  importance  of  educational  mis- 
sionary work.  No  work  has  a  more  vital  bearing 
on  the  world^s  evangelization.  It  is  said  that  the 
Pasumalai  College  in  Southern  India  has  sent  out 
over  500  native  Christian  workers,  and  there  are 
other  institutions  wliicli  can  show  an  equally  en- 
couraging record.  Why  should  not  every  college 
and  school  become  such  a  center  of  evangelization  ? 
This  will  not  be  the  case  unless  those  who  have  the 
responsibility  of  conducting  these  schools  or  teach- 
ing in  them  keep  the  subject  constantly  and  prom- 
inently before  the  minds  of  the  students. 

A  factor  on  the  mission  field  which  affords  large 
promise  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world  is  the 
Student  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  It  is 
now  intrenched  in  nearly  two  hundred  universities, 
colleges  and  high  schools  of  Asia,  Africa,  South 
America  and  the  Pacific  Islands.  Not  only  does 
the  number  include  nearly  all  of  the  leading  mis- 

'  Rev.  J.  Hudson  Taylor,  letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement. 

171 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF    THE   WORLD 

sionary  institutions  of  higher  learning,  but  also 
many  of  the  government  student  centers.  The 
Associations  of  Japan,  of  China,  of  India  and  Cey- 
lon, and  of  the  remaining  mission  lands  are  united 
into  intercollegiate  movements,  each  having  its 
supervisory  committee  composed  of  missionaries 
and  leading  native  Christians.  Each  movement 
has  one  or  more  traveling  and  local  secretaries. 
These  secretaries  are  university  men  who  have  had 
experience  in  Christian  work  among  students,  and 
they  devote  themselves  exclusively  to  unifying, 
guiding  and  energizing  the  societies  of  native 
Christian  students.  The  aim  is  to  lay  upon  these 
bands  of  Christian  students  the  double  burden  of 
leading  their  fellow-students  to  Christ  and  of  evan- 
gelizing their  own  countrymen.  Thus  they  have 
been  well  characterized  as  Student  Volunteer  Move- 
ments for  Home  Missions.  Through  the  medium 
of  the  World's  Student  Christian  Federation  they 
are  kept  in  close  and  helpful  touch  with  the 
organized  Christian  student  movements  of  Europe, 
America,  South  Africa  and  Australasia.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  overstate  the  importance  of  this  union 
of  the  Christian  students  of  Christian  and  non- 
Christian  lands  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 
There  must  be  a  great  increase  in  voluntary 
Christian  work  by  the  rank  and  file  of  the  mem- 
172 


ESSENTIAL   FACTORS 

bersliip  of  the  native  Chnrch,  if  the  Gospel  is  to  be 
diffused  throughout  all  lands  in  our  day.  The 
whole  Church  must  be  trained  to  be  missionary. 
It  is  fatal  to  have  the  idea  prevail  in  any  native 
community  that  the  responsibility  for  winning 
men  to  Christ  rests  on  a  professional  class.  Im- 
portant as  is  the  work  of  the  paid  agents  or  leaders, 
it  is  not  in  itself  sufficient  to  reach  the  masses.  In 
the  days  of  the  Apostles  the  Gospel  spread  with 
wonderful  rapidity  because  individual  Christians 
everywhere  were  filled  with  a  passion  for  making 
Christ  known  and  went  about  living  Him  and 
speaking  of  Him.  So  to-day  in  Korea,  Manchuria, 
Livingstonia  and  other  mission  fields,  where  the 
work  of  evangelization  is  being  pushed  most  exten- 
sively and  vigorously,  one  of  the  chief  secrets  of 
the  progress  is  that  large  numbers  of  the  native 
Christians  have  heard  the  call  of  Christ  and  are 
seeking  to  win  to  Him  their  relatives,  friends  and 
neighbors. 

The  native  Church  of  a  given  district  may  be 
regarded  as  the  most  important  factor  in  the  evan- 
gelization of  that  district.  '*  The  evangelization 
of  a  given  district  thus  depends,''  as  Dr.  J.  J. 
Lucas  of  Northern  India  has  pointed  out,  *^  largely 
upon  the  purity,  unity,  prayerfulness,  spiritual 
knowledge,  and  growth  of  the  Church  of  that 
173 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOIILD 

district.  Only  to  such  a  Church  will  Christ  give 
converts,  and  without  converts  there  cannot  be 
evangelists/^  *  The  great  force  with  which  to  im- 
press the  nnevangelized  is  a  holy  Church  in  their 
midst,  the  members  of  which  are  living  examples 
of  the  mighty  transforming  and  keeping  power  of 
the  Gospel. 

This  shows  again  the  importance  of  the  work  of 
the  missionaries  in  raising  up  spiritual  native 
leaders,  for  what  we  make  the  native  ministry 
they  will  make  the  native  Church.  We  recognize, 
therefore,  the  desirability  of  conducting  Bible 
Conferences  for  native  Christians,  of  creating  and 
circulating  vernacular  Christian  literature,  and  of 
seeking  to  lead  the  students  and  pupils  of  all  mis- 
sion colleges  and  schools  into  a  vital  Christian 
experience  and  also  to  form  right  habits  of  prayer 
and  devotional  Bible  study  before  they  go  out  to 
become  leaders  in  the  churches.  Above  all,  it 
should  be  remembered  that  the  feeble  spiritual 
life  of  native  converts  and  leaders,  their  shallow 
conception  of  sin,  the  little  progress  they  make  in 
the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  in  observing  the  com- 
mandments of  Christ,  in  giving  of  their  substance 
to  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  and  in  preaching  Christ 
to  their  own  people,  can  be  remedied  only  by  the 

*  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 
174 


ESSENTIAL   FACTORS 

Spirit  of  God  who  works  in  answer  to  the  prayers 
of  those  that  believe. 

A  great  enlargement  of  work  for  children  will 
prove  to  be  a  valuable,  if  not  a  necessary,  factor  in 
obtaining  and  training  a  sufficient  force  of  native 
workers  to  evangelize  the  world.  The  plan  that 
seizes  and  impresses  childhood  tells  mightily  for 
victory.  At  first  thought  this  may  appear  to  re- 
quire too  much  time  to  be  of  real  help  in  evangel- 
izing this  generation;  and  yet  further  reflection 
will  convince  one  that  there  is  no  more  direct,  cer- 
tain and  satisfactory  way  of  augmenting  the  evan- 
gelizing force.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  be- 
gins with  childhood  in  training  its  priests.  Some 
consider  that  one  of  the  chief  reasons  why  Buddh- 
ism developed  into  numerically  the  largest  faith  in 
the  world  is  the  fact  that  during  its  early  history 
so  much  attention  was  devoted  to  the  children. 
The  minds  of  the  young  are  unprejudiced  and 
most  susceptible  to  Christian  influence.  They  are 
the  most  hopeful  class,  not  only  because  they  are 
most  impressible  and  docile,  but  also  because  the 
future  depends  so  largely  upon  them.  A  child 
won  for  Christ  means  an  adult  won.  Moreover, 
it  should  not  be  overlooked  that  the  child  as  a 
child  may  be  an  evangelizing  force.  Often  the 
parents  are  reached  best  through  the  children. 
175 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

The  fact  that  the  children  are,  in  a  sense,  mission- 
aries among  their  playmates  and  in  their  homes 
lends  large  meaning  to  the  mission  school  system 
with  its  one  million  of  pupils. 

The  promotion  of  the  spirit  and  practice  of  com- 
ity in  the  work  of  the  various  missionary  societies 
is  an  essential  factor  in  accomplishing  the  evangel- 
ization of  the  world.  Comity  should  mean  noth- 
ing less  than  such  a  spirit  of  unity  and  practical 
co-operation  as  would  avoid  misunderstandings, 
friction  and  conflict  among  the  workers.  Such  a 
spirit  would  do  much  to  prevent  the  reproduction 
on  the  mission  field  of  the  narrow  sectarianism  of 
the  home  lands.  By  avoiding  wasteful  duplication 
of  machinery  there  would  be  a  decided  saving  in 
number  of  workers,  in  money  and  in  power.  A 
larger  concentration  of  effort  would  be  made  pos- 
sible. The  Church  would  present  a  united  front 
to  the  enemy.  As  a  result  of  planning  and  labor- 
ing together  in  real  unity  there  would  be  a  greater 
manifestation  of  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
all  the  work.  The  evangelizing  force  would  be 
greatly  augmented ;  for,  in  the  words  of  Bishop 
Thoburn,  '^  if  all  the  missio^iaries  of  the  world 
could  to-day  be  made  of  one  heart  and  one  soul 
according  to  the  standard  of  the  Church  of  Pente- 
cost, the  change  would  be  equivalent  to  an  imme- 
176 


ESSENTL\L  FACTORS 

diate  reinforcement  of  a  thousand,  or  perhaps  I 
ought  to  say  of  ten  thousand,  fully  equipped  new 
workers/'  ^ 

There  are  many  ways  in  which  the  various  mis- 
sions can  advantageously  co-operate  as  has  heen 
proved  by  the  experience  of  cognate  denominations 
in  certain  fields.  They  may  unite  in  the  conduct 
of  training  schools,  of  higher  educational  institu- 
tions, of  hospitals  and  philanthropic  enterprises, 
and  also  in  the  creation,  publication  and  distribu- 
tion of  literature.  They  may  come  to  an  agree- 
ment to  respect  each  other's  rules  of  discipline, 
principles  of  administration  and  scale  of  wages. 
They  may  agree  on  a  just  territorial  apportionment 
and  honor  each  other's  sphere  of  influence.  Soci- 
eties in  extending  their  operations  to  other  regions 
may  go  to  unoccupied  fields.  The  Bishop  of  La- 
hore strongly  emphasizes  this  as  follows  :  '^  As  long 
as  tens  of  thousands  have  never  seen  a  Christian 
evangelist,  it  is  little  less  than  crime  to  court  diffi- 
culties and  heart-burnings  by  planting  ourselves 
where  Christ  is  already  preached."'^  Dr.  Walter 
E.  Lambuth  points  out  that  ^'sl  wise  regard  for 
this  branch  of  missionary  economics  on  broad 
Christian  lines  would  have  long  since  led  to  a  mas- 

*  "The  Church  of  Pentecost,"  321 
2  Letter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 
177 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

terly  and  complete  occupation  of  the  field." ^  Has 
not  the  time  come  on  most  of  the  great  mission 
fields  for  a  federation  of  all  the  forces  in  order  to 
map  out  and  occupy  every  district  ?  Judging  from 
the  expression  of  missionary  bodies  in  different 
lands  the  time  is  ripe  for  such  action.  The  chief 
obstacles  to  unity  and  co-operation,  as  was  pointed 
out  by  the  two  Shanghai  Conferences,  are  some  of 
the  missionary  organizations  at  home.  The  vast 
extent  and  inherent  difficulty  of  the  work  to  be 
done  call  for  a  clearer  recognition  than  ever  of  the 
oneness  of  Christ's  followers  and  for  the  wisest 
possible  alignment  and  distribution  of  the  forces. 

If  the  world  is  to  be  evangelized  in  this  genera- 
tion it  is  necessary  that  the  leaders  on  the  various 
fields — both  missionary  and  native — regard  this  as 
something  not  only  to  be  desired  but  also  to  be  ac- 
complished. If  they  are  sceptical  as  to  its  being 
the  will  of  God  that  the  Church  of  our  day  shall 
put  forth  her  energies  to  bring  a  knowledge  of 
Christ  within  reach  of  all  men  in  the  known  and 
accessible  world,  it  will  not  be  done.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  the  missionary  body  as  a  whole  and  the 

^  "  Report  of  the  Fourth  Conference  of  Officers  and  Rep- 
resentatives of  the  Foreign  Mission  Boards  and  Societies  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada  "  (held  in  New  York,  1896), 
85,  86. 

178 


ESSENTIAL   FACTORS 

tens  of  thousands  of  native  agents  have  a  vivid  re- 
alization of  the  necessity  of  reaching  the  entire 
known  and  accessible  world  with  the  Gospel,  they 
are  in  a  position  so  to  distribute,  lead,  educate  and 
inspire  the  forces  as  to  accomplish  a  marvelous  diffu- 
sion of  the  great  facts  about  Jesus  Christ.  Dr. 
Lucas,  in  writing  on  the  evangelization  of  the 
world  in  this  generation,  says  :  "  This  is  the  duty 
of  the  Church.  It  should  be  her  aim,  and  yet  only 
now  and  then,  here  and  there,  is  this  aim  held  up 
and  this  duty  urged.  The  Scriptural  reasons  and 
motives  for  such  a  united,  systematic,  heroic  effort 
on  the  part  of  the  whole  Church,  every  Christian 
taking  part,  are  not  presented  and  pressed  with 
such  clearness,  repetition,  and  emphasis  as  to 
awaken  the  conscience  and  stir  the  heart  of  God's 
people  the  world  over.  Everywhere  Calebs  and 
Joshuas  are  needed  to  point  to  the  infinite  re- 
sources back  of  us  and  to  encourage  God's  people 
to  go  forward.  The  aim  is  Scriptural  and  the  duty 
of  making  the  attempt  is  clear,  but  the  Calebs  and 
Joshuas,  how  few  they  are  ! "  ^ 

Factors  on  the  home  field. 
It  is  indispensable  to  the  world's  evangelization 
that  the  churches  on  the  home  field  become  filled 

>  Jitter  in  Archives  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement 
179 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

with  the  missionary  spirit.  A  task  so  vast  cannot 
be  accomplished  by  the  leaders  of  the  Church  at 
home  alone,  nor  by  the  representatives  of  the  home 
Church  on  the  foreign  field.  The  co-operation  of 
a  great  multitude  of  the  members  of  the  Church  is 
essential.  This  means  that  the  churches  in  Chris- 
tian lands  must  become  missionary  churches. 

What  characterizes  a  missionary  church  ?  It  is 
a  church  whose  members  are  intelligent  concerning 
the  enterprise  of  world-wide  missions,  and  who 
recognize  and  accept  their  responsibility  to  help 
extend  Christ's  Kingdom  throughout  the  earth. 
Christians  will  not  earnestly  set  about  the  work  of 
evangelizing  the  world  until  they  have  a  deep  con- 
viction that  this  is  their  duty  and  an  ardent  desire 
to  perform  it.  The  basis  of  such  conviction  and 
desire  is  knowledge.  Among  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  Church  membership  there  is  at  present  great 
ignorance  and  consequent  indifference  concern- 
ing missions.  As  a  result  only  a  comparatively 
small  fraction  of  the  Church  members  are  doing 
anything  in  an  aggressive  or  whole-souled  way  to 
evangelize  the  world.  Surely  God  never  intended 
that  only  a  few  earnest  and  devoted  men  and 
women,  here  and  there,  should  have  a  vision  of 
the  unevangelized  world  and  be  possessed  by  an  in- 
tense longing  for  the  salvation  of  the  heathen. 
180 


ESSENTIAL   FACTORS 

Far  too  many  Christians  look  on  tlie  promotion 
of  the  missionary  movement  as  something  quite 
outside  the  ordinary  Christian  life.  They  assume 
that  to  help  extend  Christ^s  Kingdom  is  an  op- 
tional matter  and  not  obligatory.  It  must  be 
pressed  upon  them  that  an  intelligent  and  active 
missionary  spirit  is  inseparable  from  a  real  Chris- 
tian life  ;  and  that  a  man  may  well  question 
whether  he  is  living  the  Christian  life — that  is, 
having  Christ  live  in  him — if  he  is  indifferent  to 
the  needs  of  over  half  the  human  race.  The  fun- 
damental duty  of  the  hour  is  well  expressed  in  the 
following  words  of  the  resolution  adopted  by  the 
Lambeth  Conference  of  Bishops  of  the  Anglican 
Communion  :  ''^  To  arouse  the  Church  to  recog- 
nize as  a  necessary  and  constant  element  in  the 
spiritual  life  of  the  Body,  and  of  each  member  of 
it,  the  fulfilment  of  our  Lord's  great  commission 
to  evangelize  all  nations."  ^  Christians  must  be 
led  to  see  that  it  is  their  duty  to  keep  informed 
concerning  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  world — 
its  field,  its  progress,  its  present-day  triumphs,  its 
problems  and  difficulties,  its  opportunities  and  its 
resources.  The  Church  must  be  led  to  make  the 
fulfilment  of  the  command  to  disciple  all  nations 
the  great  business  of  this  generation  of  believers. 

*  *'  Conference  of  Bishops  of  the  Anglican  Communion,"  Sd, 
181 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF    THE   WORLD 

The  missionary  church  is  a  self-sacrificing 
church.  The  means  given  for  evangelizing  the 
world  should  correspond  with  the  magnitude  of 
the  desired  result.  To  mobilize  and  utilize  the 
greatly  enlarged  force  necessary  to  accomplish 
this  purpose  will  require  giving  on  a  scale  un- 
thought  of  in  the  past.  The  Church,  however,  is 
abundantly  able  to  supply  all  the  money  needed. 
If  she  is  to  respond  as  she  should,  her  members 
both  rich  and  poor  must  come  to  realize  their 
responsibility  as  Christian  stewards,  not  of  one- 
tenth  alone,  but  of  all  that  they  possess,  and 
moreover,  that  they  are  under  obligation  to 
make  not  simply  good  use,  but  the  best  use  of  the 
property  that  they  have,  in  the  light  of  God's 
purposes  for  the  world.  If  Christians  would  take 
the  high.  Scriptural  ground  of  Livingstone,  money 
enough  would  be  released  to  enable  the  Church, 
so  far  as  material  resources  are  concerned,  to 
meet  every  opportunity.  ''  I  will  place  no  value," 
said  he,  **^on  anything  I  have  or  may  possess, 
except  in  relation  to  the  Kingdom  of  Christ." 

The  awful  need  of  a  world  without  Christ 
makes  it  incumbent  on  Christians  to  be  more 
watchful  and  conscientious  in  expenditures.  Lux- 
ury and  materialism  have  become  a  serious  menace 
to  the  Church,  and  are  unquestionably  obscuring 
182 


ESSENTIAL   FACTORS 

its  spiritual  vision  and  hindering  its  evangelizing 
zeal.  There  should  be  among  the  followers  of 
Christ  a  putting  away  of  extravagance  and  super- 
fluities so  as  to  reduce  the  necessities  of  life  to 
a  standard  which  will  not  be  inconsistent  with 
the  example  and  teaching  of  Christ  and  the  re- 
quirements of  an  unevangelized  world. 

There  is  need  also  among  all  classes  of  Chris- 
tians to-day  of  more  heroic  giving  and  of  real 
self-denial  on  behalf  of  world-wide  missions.  Why 
should  more  be  required  in  this  respect  of  the 
missionary  than  of  the  member  of  the  home 
Church?  ''If  I  as  a  foreign  missionary,"  says 
Bishop  Thobnrn,  "am  expected  to  give  up  all 
things  for  the  interests  of  the  work,  to  count 
home  and  treasure  and  ease  and  personal  com- 
fort as  nothing  when  the  interests  of  the  work 
are  at  stake,  my  brother  in  the  United  States 
who  unhesitatingly  assigns  this  standard  of  duty 
to  me  should  be  governed  by  a  spirit  precisely 
similar."^  Christians  should  rise  to  a  higher 
plane  of  sacrifice  than  exists  in  the  Church  to- 
day. They  need  to  be  reminded  of  the  con- 
ditions of  discipleship  which  Christ  imposed  and 
be  willing  to  forsake  all  for  His  sake  and  the 
GospeFs.  Christian  liberality  stops  short  of  the 
» '*  The  Christless  Nations,"  194. 
183 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF    THE    WORLD 

highest  when  it  leads  to  no  self-denial.  Where- 
ever  the  Christian  wins  the  victory  over  selfish- 
ness and  avarice  and  renounces  the  thought  of 
centering  his  affections  on  this  world  as  his 
home,  there  is  developed  world-conquering  power. 
This  call  to  self-denial  and  liberality  comes  to 
all  who  bear  the  name  of  Christ.  To  not  a  few 
it  will  mean  to  go  out  to  preach  Christ  where 
He  has  not  been  named.  To  parents  it  will 
mean  in  many  cases  the  giving  up  of  children 
to  the  missionary  service.  To  all  who  are  unable 
to  become  missionaries  it  will  mean  giving  gener- 
ously of  their  substance,  whether  their  possessions 
be  little  or  great.  Those  who  cannot  go  to  the 
front  should,  if  at  all  possible,  support  one  or 
more  substitutes  there.  Families  should  have 
their  representatives  on  the  foreign  field.  Each 
congregation  of  one  hundred  or  more  members 
should  have,  if  possible,  at  least  two  ministers — 
a  home  pastor  and  another  holding  forth  the 
word  of  life  in  some  unevangelized  land.  If  a 
Church  cannot  support  its  own  missionary,  two 
or  more  might  unite  for  this  purpose.  This  plan 
of  having  living  links  between  the  Christian  com- 
munities at  home  and  the  mission  fields  is  meeting 
with  increasing  favor.  Each  congregation  should 
be  ambitious  to  have  some  of  the  choicest  young 
184 


ESSENTIAL   FACTORS 

men  and  women  in  its  membership  become  mis- 
sionaries. Think  of  the  inheritance  to  the  churches 
they  represented  of  names  like  Carey,  Livingstone, 
Judson  and  Martyn.  Rev.  Hubert  Brooke  in  a 
recent  article  ^  tells  of  a  church  of  300  communi- 
cants in  England  which  within  the  past  decade 
had  thirty-two  of  its  members  volunteer  for 
foreign  service  of  whom  twenty  have  already  gone 
to  the  field  and  three  are  in  training.  In  other 
words,  one  in  ten  of  the  membership  offered  them- 
selves and  one  in  fourteen  have  actually  gone  out. 

A  loud  call  comes  to  the  rich  in  this  day  of  un- 
exampled opportunity.  They  are  in  a  position  to 
hasten  greatly  the  extension  of  Christ's  reign  in 
mission  lands.  Has  not  the  missionary  enterprise 
reached  a  stage  where  large  sums  of  money  can  be 
wisely  expended  upon  it  ?  The  age  of  experiment- 
ing has  passed.  A  science  of  missions  based  on 
one  hundred  years  and  more  of  experience  is  being 
developed.  The  leading  missionary  societies  are 
conducted  according  to  the  principles  and  the 
methods  which  characterize  all  strong  organiza- 
tions. It  is  conceded  that  their  funds  are  admin- 
istered economically  and  wisely.  Ex-President 
Harrison,  in  his  opening  address  at  the  Ecumeni- 
cal Missionary  Conference,  thus  emphasized  the 
*  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer^  May,  1899,  p.  342. 
185 


THE  EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

i^'  desirability  of  large  gifts  to  missions:  "Univer- 
sity endowments  have  been  swelled  by  vast  single 
gifts  in  the  United  States  during  the  last  few  years. 
We  rejoice  in  this.  But  may  we  not  hope  that  in 
the  exposition  of  the  greater  needs  of  the  educa- 
tional work  in  the  mission  fields  .  .  .  some 
men  of  wealth  may  find  suggestion  to  endow  great 
schools  in  mission  lands  ?  It  is  a  great  work  to 
increase  the  candle  power  of  our  educational  arc 
lights,  but  to  give  to  cave  dwellers  an  incandes- 
cent may  be  a  better  one.^'^  There  have  been 
comparatively  few  conspicuously  great  gifts  de- 
voted to  building  up  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  in 
less  favored  countries.  Who  can  measure  what 
might  be  accomplished  toward  the  world's  evangel- 
ization if  some  of  the  rich  disciples  of  Christ  would, 
like  Zinzendorf,  devote  their  princely  revenue  and 
themselves  to  the  promotion  of  this  God-appointed 
work  ?  Their  time  and  thought  will  be  fully  as 
valuable  and  potent  as  their  money.  There  is 
much  force  in  the  words  of  Mr.  John  H.  Converse 
of  the  great  commercial  firm,  the  Baldwin  Loco- 
motive Works  :  '^  When  business  men  apply  to  the 
work  of  missions  the  same  energy  and  intelligence 
which  govern  in  their  commercial  ventures,  then 

'  The   Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  June,  1900,  pp. 
409,  410. 

189 


ESSENTIAL   FACTORS 

the  proposition  to  evangelize  the  world  in  this  gen- 
eration will  be  no  longer  a  dream/'  ^ 

The  poor  and  those  of  moderate  means,  as  well 
as  the  wealthy  disciples  of  Christ,  should  give  of 
their  substance  toward  propagating  the  Gospel. 
A  work  of  such  extent  and  urgency  calls  for  the 
participation  of  the  entire  Church  of  God.  Spe- 
cial efforts  should  be  put  forth  to  train  in  habits 
of  systematic,  proportionate  and  self-denying  giv- 
ing the  vast  army  of  children  in  the  Sunday 
schools  and  of  young  men  and  young  women  in 
the  various  young  people's  movements  of  the 
Church.  In  this  way  a  generation  of  intelligent 
and  prayerful  givers  may  soon  be  raised  up  who 
will  carry  forward  the  work  in  a  manner  commen- 
surate with  their  opportunities.  In  a  word,  Christ 
summons  all,  old  and  young,  rich  and  poor,  to 
make  their  lives,  including  possessions,  talents  and 
influence,  tell  on  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 

The  missionary  church  is  a  praying  church. 
The  history  of  missions  is  a  history  of  prayer. 
Everything  vital  to  the  success  of  the  world's 
evangelization  hinges  on  prayer.  Are  thousands 
of  missionaries  and  tens  of  thousands  of  native 
workers  needed  ?     ^'  Pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord 

'In  "Farewell"  bulletin  issued  on  the  last  day  of  the 
Ecumenical  Missionary  Conference  in  New  York,  1900. 
187 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

of  the  harvest,  that  He  send  forth  laborers  into 
His  harvest/'  Is  a  vast  increase  in  gifts  required 
to  prosecute  adequately  the  enterprise  ?  Prayer 
is  the  only  power  that  will  influence  God's  people 
to  give  with  purity  of  motive  and  with  real  sacri- 
fice of  self.  Prayer  alone  will  overcome  the  gigan- 
tic difficulties  which  confront  the  workers  in  every 
field.  Nothing  but  prayer  will  strengthen  the 
weak,  tried  and  tempted  native  Christians,  who 
have  been  raised  up  from  lives  of  sin  and  degrada- 
tion, and  give  them  the  evangelistic  impulse.  It 
is  in  answer  to  prayer  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
poured  out  in  mighty  Pentecostal  power  on  the 
workers  and  Christian  communities  in  the  far-off, 
needy  fields.  Hope  and  confidence  should  not  be 
placed  in  the  extent  and  perfection  of  organiza- 
tions, nor  in  the  experience  which  has  been  accu- 
mulated and  the  agencies  and  methods  which  have 
been  devised  in  a  long  century  of  missions,  nor  in 
the  unusual  strength  of  the  missionary  body,  nor 
in  the  multitude  who  have  been  gathered  from 
every  nation  and  race  and  faith  into  the  native 
Church,  nor  in  the  wonderful  resources  and  facil- 
ities of  the  home  Church,  nor  in  far-sighted  and 
comprehensive  plans,  nor  in  enthusiastic  forward 
movements  and  inspiring  watchwords.  It  is  easy 
to  magnify  human  personality  and  agencies. 
188 


ESSENTIAL   FACTORS 

Prayer  recognizes  that  God  is  the  source  of  life 
and  light  and  energy.  Let  methods  be  changed, 
therefore,  if  necessary,  that  prayer  may  be  given 
its  true  place.  Let  there  be  days  set  apart  for  in- 
tercession ;  let  the  original  purpose  of  the  monthly 
concert  of  prayer  for  missions  be  given  a  larger 
place  ;  let  missionary  prayer  cycles  be  used  by 
families  and  by  individual  Christians ;  let  the  best 
literature  on  prayer  be  circulated  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Church ;  let  special  sermons  on  the 
subject  of  intercession  be  preached.  By  these  and 
by  all  other  practical  means  a  larger,  deeper,  wider 
spirit  of  prayer  should  be  cultivated  in  the  churches. 
The  Church  has  not  j'et  touched  the  fringe  of  the 
possibilities  of  intercessory  prayer.  Her  largest  vic- 
tories will  be  witnessed  when  individual  Christians 
everywhere  come  to  recognize  their  priesthood  unto 
God  and  day  by  day  give  themselves  unto  prayer. 
If  added  power  attends  the  united  prayer  of  two 
or  three,  what  mighty  triumphs  there  will  be  when 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  consistent  members  of 
the  Church  are  with  one  accord  day  by  day  mak- 
ing intercession  for  the  extension  of  Christ's 
Kingdom. 

Mr.  Eobert  E.  Speer,  in  his  pamphlet,  "  Prayer 
and  Missions,"  which  has  done  so  much  to  awaken 
the  Church  to  prayer,  goes  to  the  heart  of  the  sub- 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

ject :  "  The  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  gen- 
eration depends  first  of  all  upon  a  revival  of  prayer. 
Deeper  than  the  need  for  men  ;  deeper,  far,  than 
the  need  for  money  ;  aye,  deep  down  at  the  bottom 
of  our  spiritless  life  is  the  need  for  the  forgotten 
secret  of  prevailing,  world-wide  prayer.  .  .  . 
The  condition  and  consequence  of  such  prayers  as 
this  is  a  new  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Noth- 
ing short  of  His  own  suggestion  will  prompt  the 
necessary  prayer  to  bring  Him  back  again  in  power. 
Nothing  short  of  His  new  outpouring  will  ever 
solve  the  missionary  problems  of  our  day."  ^ 

It  is  essential  that  the  leaders  of  the  Church  in 
the  home  lands  as  well  as  on  the  mission  field  re- 
gard the  evangelization  of  the  world  as  a  primary 
obligation  and  devote  themselves  to  its  accomplish- 
ment. The  present  attitude  of  the  Church  and 
the  plans  of  her  leaders  are  certainly  not  consist- 
ent with  a  deep  conviction  that  in  our  day  all  men 
should  be  given  an  opportunity  to  know  Jesus 
Christ.  The  great  duty  of  the  Church  to  disciple 
all  nations  should  be  recognized  as  the  supreme 
question  of  the  time.  For  over  a  century  there 
has  been  pioneer  work.  The  letter  sent  out  to 
pastors  in  1897  by  the  representatives  of  the  mis- 
sion boards  of    the   United   States  and  Canada 

»Pp.  22,  23. 
190 


ESSENTIAL   FACTOES 

rightly  insists  that  '^  now  the  time  has  come  for 
the  Church  of  God  to  arise  and  gird  itself  for  the 
conquest  of  the  nations  for  Christ.  Let  us  count 
this  Divinely-given  task  as  no  longer  a  side  issue, 
but  as  the  chief  object  for  which  the  Church 
exists/^^  Who  can  doubt  for  a  moment  that  if 
the  leaders  of  the  Church  at  home  really  desired 
to  have  the  world  evangelized  in  this  generation 
and  set  themselves  to  bring  the  hosts  of  God  up  to 
the  task,  it  would  be  accomplished  ? 

An  enterprise  which  aims  at  the  evangelization 
of  the  whole  world  in  a  generation,  and  contem- 
plates the  ultimate  establishment  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Christ,  requires  that  its  leaders  be  Christian 
statesmen — men  with  far-seeing  views,  with  com- 
prehensive plans,  with  power  of  initiative  and  with 
victorious  faith. 

While  the  call  to  evangelize  was  addressed  to 
the  whole  Church  a  special  responsibility  rests 
upon  the  home  pastor  because  he  has  been  divinely 
appointed  to  lead  the  forces.  He  holds  a  key  posi- 
tion. If  he  lacks  the  missionary  spirit ;  if  he  is 
not  fully  persuaded  that  the  cause  of  missions  is 
the  cause  of  Christ  Himself,  his  church  will  not  be 

'  "  Report  of  the  Sixth  Conference  of  the  Officers  and  Rep- 
resentatives of  the  Foreign  Mission  Boards  and  Societies  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada  "  (held  in  New  York,  1898),  91. 
191 


THE   EVANGELIZATION  OF   THE   WORLD 

missionary.  As  the  pastor  so  the  people,  is  gener- 
ally true  in  relation  to  this  subject.  It  would  be 
difficult  if  not  impossible  to  find  a  case  of  a  pastor 
deeply  and  actively  interested  in  missions  who  has 
not  met  with  a  real  response  from  a  goodly  num- 
ber of  his  parishioners.  '^  Let  the  pulpit  give  its 
proper  place  to  the  subject  that  was  the  vision  of 
prophets,  the  song  of  sacred  poets,  the  consolation 
of  the  Redeemer,  the  labor  of  apostles,  the  in- 
gathering of  the  Gentiles ;  and  missions  would 
have  a  new  standing  in  the  Church,  a  fresh  devel- 
opment in  the  world."  ^  Where  the  pastor  gives 
much  missionary  information  to  his  people  and 
systematically  presses  the  claims  of  the  world  upon 
them,  the  people  become  missionary.  His  respon- 
sibility acquires  added  significance  when  it  is 
remembered  that  the  Church  on  the  mission  field 
will  be  a  reflection  of  the  Church  in  Christian 
lands.  Its  life  will  not  reach  and  remain  at  a 
higher  level  than  the  life  of  the  home  congrega- 
tions. 

There  are  striking  examples  in  all  Christian 
countries  showing  what  one  pastor  can  accomplish 
who  devotes  himself  with  conviction  and  enthusi- 
asm to  the  cause  of  the  world's  evangelization. 

*  Kev.  James  Lewis,  in  **  Conference  on  Missions  "  (held 
at  Liverpool,  1860),  L57. 


ESSENTIAL   FACTOR^ 

The  methods  which  such  pastors  have  employed 
are  reproducible  by  any  pastor.  The  missionary 
pastor  has  abandoned  the  merely  occasional  mis- 
sionary sermon,  and  makes  missions  the  fibre  and 
substance  of  his  teaching.  Much  personal  effort 
is  put  forth  in  his  parish.  The  missionary  work 
is  thoroughly  organized.  Scriptural  habits  of 
giving  are  cultivated.  The  people  are  taught  to 
offer  continual  prayer  for  the  extension  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ.  The  awakening  and  main- 
taining of  the  spirit  of  prayer  is  recognized  as  the 
first  duty.  Missions  have  a  prominent  place  in 
the  pastor^s  public  prayers  and  this  exerts  a  power- 
ful indirect  influence.  Moreover,  he  gives  himself 
much  to  prayer  on  behalf  of  the  world.  Here  lies 
the  secret  of  his  enthusiasm  and  influence.  It 
takes  spiritual  energy  to  stir  up  spiritual  energy. 
Only  fire  kindles  fire. 

If  we  are  to  have  more  missionary  pastors  the 
subject  of  missions  must  receive  larger  attention 
in  the  theological  seminaries.  Chairs  of  missions 
should  be  established  and  filled  only  by  men  pos- 
sessing both  scientific  attainments  and  a  passion 
for  the  world's  evangelization.  Students  should 
be  required  to  make  an  exhaustive  study  of  the 
moral  and  religious  condition  of  the  unevangelized 
world,  of  the  ground  and  history  of  missions,  of 
193 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

the  lives  of  great  missionaries  and  of  the  methods 
of  enlisting  the  fullest  co-operation  of  the  churches 
in  the  work  of  missions.  Pastors  should  be  taught 
to  look  on  their  churches,  not  only  as  a  field  to  be 
cultivated,  but  also  as  a  force  to  be  wielded  on 
behalf  of  the  world's  evangelization.  No  student 
should  be  counted  worthy  to  assume  the  duties  of 
the  ministry  who  has  not  acquired  a  world-wide 
horizon  and  who  has  not  caught  the  real  mission- 
ary spirit,  that  is,  the  spirit  of  Christ. 

The  Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign 
Missions  has  been  raised  up  for  such  a  time  as  this. 
It  is  indispensable  as  a  factor  in  the  world's  evan- 
gelization. It  occupies  a  position  of  strategic 
importance,  having  assumed  so  largely  the  respon- 
sibility of  cultivating  for  missions  the  student 
centers  of  Christendom.  Already  its  organized 
work  has  extended  to  the  universities,  colleges  and 
other  institutions  of  higher  learning  in  the  United 
States,  Canada,  Great  Britain,  Germany,  Norway, 
Sweden,  Denmark,  Finland,  Holland,  Switzerland, 
the  Protestant  communities  of  France,  Australia, 
New  Zealand  and  South  Africa.  Such  a  union  of 
the  students  of  all  Protestant  Christendom,  not  to 
mention  those  of  the  unevangelized  lands,  must  be 
regarded  as  both  a  preparation  for  and  a  promise 
of  a  greater  work  by  the  Church  in  the  world. 
194 


ESSENTIAL   FACTORS 

The  Movement  has  only  begun  to  realize  its 
possibilities.  Its  plans  must  be  made  far  more 
extensive  and  its  work  mnst  be  prosecuted  with 
much  greater  energy  in  all  these  countries,  if  it  is 
to  do  what  the  Church  has  a  right  to  expect  of  it 
toward  accomplishing  the  world-wide  proclamation 
of  the  Gospel.  It  should  see  to  it  that  no  Chris- 
tian student  goes  out  into  the  world  without  having 
been  brought  face  to  face  with  the  question  of  his 
responsibility  to  carry  out  the  final  commission  of 
his  Lord.  All  students  who  are  to  become  leaders 
in  the  Church  at  home  and  abroad  should  be  en- 
listed and  guided  in  the  scientific  study  of  mis- 
sions. Men  and  women  of  high  qualifications 
should  be  enrolled  by  the  thousands  as  volunteers 
for  foreign  missions,  and  all  practical  measures 
should  be  employed  to  insure  their  receiving  the 
most  thorough  preparation.  Only  by  carrying  out 
such  a  comprehensive  and  aggressive  policy  will  the 
missionary  societies  be  supplied  with  a  sufficient 
number  of  thoroughly  qualified  candidates  to 
evangelize  the  world  in  this  generation. 


195 


IX 


THE  EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  WORLD  IN  THIS 
GENERATION   AS   A   WATCHWORD 

The  idea  of  evangelizing  the  world  in  a  genera- 
tion did  not  originate,  as  some  have  thought,  with 
student  volunteers  for  foreign  missions.  In  sub- 
stance, and  often  in  practically  the  same  phrase- 
ology, it  has  been  urged  in  different  generations 
by  leaders  of  the  Church  both  in  Christian  coun- 
tries and  on  the  mission  fields.  The  Student  Vol- 
unteer Movement,  however,  was  the  first  body  of 
Christians  to  adopt  it  as  a  watchword  and  to  pro- 
mote in  an  organized  way  its  acceptance  by  all  dis- 
ciples of  Christ. 

In  1886-87,  before  the  Volunteer  Movement  was 
regularly  organized,  Mr.  Robert  P.  Wilder  and 
Mr.  John  N.  Forman,  who  served  as  its  first  trav- 
eling secretaries,  went  about  the  universities  and 
colleges  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  pressing 
upon  students  the  possibility  and  duty  of  evangel- 
izing the  world  in  a  generation  as  one  of  the 
motives  for  volunteering  for  missionary  service. 
196 


AS   A  WATCHWORD 

In  1887  all  the  volunteers  who  assembled  at 
Northfield,  representing  many  American  and 
Canadian  universities,  issued  an  appeal  to  the 
churches,  in  which  among  other  reasons  why 
they  had  volunteered  they  mentioned  the  possi- 
bility of  evangelizing  the  world  in  the  present 
generation.  When  the  Student  Volunteer  Move- 
ment for  Foreign  Missions  was  formally  organized 
in  1888,  one  of  the  first  acts  of  its  Executive 
Committee  was  the  adoption  of  the  phrase,  "  The 
Evangelization  of  the  World  in  this  Generation," 
as  the  Watchword  of  the  Movement.  From  that 
time  to  the  present  the  leaders  of  this  Movement 
in  North  America  have  earnestly  advocated  the 
idea. 

The  leaders  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Missionary 
Union  of  Great  Britain,  at  the  time  of  their  Liver- 
pool Conference  in  1896,  having  for  months  given 
the  subject  most  thorough  consideration,  adopted 
the  same  watchword.  About  a  year  later  they  pre- 
pared a  memorial  ^^to  the  Church  of  Christ  in 
Britain  "  in  which  they  appealed  not  only  to  Chris- 
tians in  general  to  take  part  in  the  evangelization 
of  the  world  in  this  generation,  but  also  to  those 
'*  who  are  called  to  the  holy  office  of  guiding  the 
counsels  and  action  of  the  Church,  to  recognize 
[the]  Watchword  as  expressive  of  the  present  duty 
197 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE  WORLD 

of  the  Church,  and  to  accept  it  as  [their]  mission- 
ary policy."^ 

The  leaders  of  the  Volunteer  Movement  in 
America  and  Britain  in  adopting  the  Watchword 
did  not  understand  that  in  doing  so  they  were 
making  it  binding  on  each  volunteer.  This  they 
knew  they  had  no  authority  to  do.  They  did  ac- 
cept it,  however,  for  themselves ;  and  adopted  it 
for  the  Movement  in  the  sense  of  making  it  a  great 
aim  of  the  Movement,  toward  the  realization  of 
which  they  as  leaders  would  seek  to  guide  its 
forces.  To  this  end  they  have,  from  the  time  of 
its  adoption,  had  as  a  prominent  part  of  their 
policy  the  leading  of  volunteers  and  all  other 
Christians  to  take  it  as  a  personal  watchword.  As 
a  result,  not  only  many  student  volunteers,  but  a 
great  number  of  other  Christians  have  accepted  the 
evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  generation  as  a 
controlling  principle  in  their  lives.  In  a  word, 
then,  it  was  made  the  watchword  of  a  movement  in 
order  that  it  might  more  widely  and  more  effec- 
tively be  made  the  watchword  of  individual  lives. 

In  actual  use  the  Watchword  has  proved  to  be 
remarkably  effective.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
it  is  at  once  concise,  comprehensive,  definite,  in- 

*  The  Student  Volunteer  (of  Great  Britain),  New  Series, 
No.  16,  pp.  77-79. 

183 


AS  A  WATCHWORD 

strnctive,  Scriptural,  striking  and  inspiring.     Ob- 
jection has  been  made  to  its  wording  on  the  ground 
that  it  needs  explanation,  but  this  might  be  said 
of  almost  every  watchword  which  has  influenced 
large  numbers  of  men.     Any  great  duty  ever  urged 
upon  the  Church  has  required  and  has  received  ex- 
planation and  defence.     That  this  is  not  without  its 
advantages  is  suggested  by  the  following  words  of 
the  Bishop  of  Newcastle  in  his  address  at  the  Lon 
don  Student  Conference.     '^For  myself,"  he  said 
'*  I  think   that  it  [the  Watchword]   did  require 
and  that  it  has  received,  an  adequate  explanation 
.    .     .     It  seems  to  me  that  you  are  perfectly  jus 
tified   in   having  a  Watchword  which  challenges 
thought.     If  you  had  a  Watchword  which  simply 
repeated  a  verse  of  Holy  Scripture,  I  am  afraid, 
that  just  as  many  familiar  phrases  are  read  and  not 
realized,  in  like  manner  this  Watchword  might  be 
passed  over  and  not  realized,  too."  ^ 

The  Student  Volunteer  Movement  has  derived 
many  advantages  from  the  use  of  the  Watchword. 
It  has  helped  to  concentrate  the  convictions,  de- 
sires and  purposes  of  a  great  number  of  Christians 
on  the  work  of  the  world^s  evangelization.  It  has 
exerted  a  unifying  influence  among  the  volunteers. 
This  means  much  in  a  movement  which  has  be- 
*^  *' {Students  and  the  Missionary  Problem,"  200. 
199 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF    THE   WORLD 

come  well  nigh  world-wide.  As  a  rallying  cry  it 
has  been  of  great  value,  affording  a  strong  ground 
of  appeal  to  men  to  become  volunteers.  It  has 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  Church,  lifted  its 
faith  and  moved  it  to  greater  sacrifice  and  prayer- 
fulness.  It  has  kept  before  the  volunteers  as  well 
as  other  Christians  the  universality  and  urgency 
of  their  purpose.  ''  It  has  imparted  a  steadiness  of 
purpose,  a  unity  of  aim  and  a  ringing  note  of  hope- 
fulness to  the  whole  Union."  ^ 

The  Watchword  has  exerted  a  most  helpful 
influence  in  the  lives  of  individual  Christians. 
By  emphasizing  Christ's  command,  it  furnishes  a 
powerful  motive.  By  urging  the  responsibility 
comprised  in  a  life  time  of  service,  it  lends  greater 
intensity  to  one's  missionary  zeal  and  activity.  It 
prevents  unnecessary  delay.  It  leads  to  the  study 
of  what  is  involved  in  the  evangelization  of  the 
world  in  a  generation.  It  calls  out  enterprise, 
self-sacrifice  and  heroism,  and  stimulates  hopeful- 
ness and  faith.  It  brings  to  the  individual  the 
inspiration  which  results  from  union  with  many 
others  having  the  same  ideal  and  purpose. 

Many  testimonies  regarding  the  value  of  the 
Watchword  to  the  life  of  the  Christian  might  be 

'  Report  of  the  Executive  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Mission- 
ary Union  in  *'  Students  and  the  Missionary  Problem,"  130. 
300 


AS  A  WATCHWOED 

given.  A  prominent  Christian  worker  says  :  "  In 
my  life  the  Watchword  has  become  a  passion  and  a 
controlling  force.  It  has  kept  me  from  confining 
my  prayers  and  efforts  to  any  one  country.  It 
has  prevented  me  from  magnifying  a  corner  of  the 
world-field  out  of  its  proper  proportion.  It  has 
given  me  a  truer  perspective  in  service,  a  bolder 
faith  in  God,  and  a  broader  love  for  all  evangelical 
Christian  denominations  ;  since  the  co-operation 
of  all  is  necessary  for  the  realization  of  the  Watch- 
word. Moreover,  it  has  increased  my  love  for  the 
Lord  who  not  only  suffered  and  rose  again  from 
the  dead,  but  also  made  it  possible  that  repentance 
and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  His 
name  by  the  Christians  of  each  generation  to  the 
nnevangelized  of  their  generation.''' 

An  Oxford  man  writes  ;  "  The  Watchword  has, 
I  think,  been  the  strongest  call  to  consecration  that 
has  ever  come  to  me.  It  does  not  of  course  set  be- 
fore us  any  standard  or  make  upon  us  any  demands 
which  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  love  and  com- 
mands of  Jesus  Christ.  But  it  presents  the  ideal 
in  such  a  definite  and  practical  form  as  constantly 
to  recall  us  from  dreamily  supposing  that  we  are 
what  we  might  be  or  are  doing  what  we  might 
do.  We  cannot  reflect  upon  it  without  being 
startled  from  our  apathy." 
201 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF    THE  WORLD 

A  recent  graduate  of  Harvard,  engaged  in  teach' 
ing,  gives  the  following  testimony  :  "  The  Watch- 
word has  helped  me  to  understand  my  own  duty 
and  that  of  the  Church.  In  many  ways  it  is  like 
the  divine  command,  '  Be  ye  perfect/  Once  hav- 
ing heard  its  uncompromising  imperative  one  can 
never  be  satisfied  with  a  narrower  view  of  the 
world,  or  of  the  work  set  for  earnest  men  to  do.  It 
is  not  narrow  or  exclusive.  Eather  it  gathers  into 
a  sentence  the  duty  of  all  the  ages,  bids  us  remem- 
ber the  uttermost  as  well  as  the  nearest  parts  of 
the  earth,  and  gives  renewed  zeal  in  view  of  the 
urgent  need  and  opportunity  which  it  portrays.*' 

A  worker  among  the  young  women  of  India, 
says  :  ''At  home  the  motto  was  to  me  a  call  to 
arms  and  the  rallying  cry  of  the  'faithful.'  Since 
coming  to  the  mission  field,  it  has  been  to  me  that 
and  much  more.  Face  to  face  as  never  before 
with  the  powers  of  darkness,  the  motto  has  been  a 
light  shining  in  a  dark  place,  forbidding  despair 
and  pointing  to  the  glory  which  shall  be  revealed. 
For  I  believe  with  a  deep  faith  that  our  motto  is 
God-given  and  is  but  its  own  realization  'cast- 
ing its  shadow  before.''' 

A  Yale  man  now  in  Christian  work  among 
students  writes  as  to  the  infiuence  of  the  Watch- 
word on  his  life :  "It  breaks  down  denomina- 
302 


AS  A  WATCHWORD 

tional  and  national  barriers  and  makes  me  feel  a 
part  of  a  great  and  united  army  of  young  mission- 
aries who  are  working  for  a  common  end  under  a 
common  Master.  It  is  a  spur  to  attempt  great 
things  for  God.  It  lifts  one  out  of  a  lack  of  ex- 
pectation, arising  from  looking  merely  at  things 
seen,  to  behold  and  lay  hold  of  the  reality  of  the 
unseen  plan  and  power  of  God." 

A  Vanderbilt  alumnus  gives  this  expression  as 
to  the  value  of  the  "Watchword  :  '^  I  wish  to  bear 
emphatic  testimony  to  the  influence  of  the  Watch- 
word of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  upon 
my  own  life.  It  was  not  possible  for  me  to  get  to 
the  foreign  field  within  over  fourteen  years  after 
my  decision  to  go.  During  these  long  years  of 
waiting  there  was  no  end  of  forces  to  weaken  one's 
conviction  of  duty  to  the  unevangelized  world. 
This  conviction  the  Watchword,  on  the  other 
hand,  intensified  and  did  much  to  make  a  perma- 
nent and  the  controlling  influence  in  my  life. 
But  the  Watchword  has  never  meant  so  much  to 
me  as  since  my  arrival  on  the  foreign  field.  The 
splendid  vision  of  the  Watchword  is  a  needed  in- 
spiration in  the  face  of  the  awful  discouragements 
of  mission  work  among  the  heathen  and  the  call  to 
urgency  is  a  much  needed  spur  to  natural  lethargy 
and  conservatism." 


THE  EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOELD 

An  Edinburgh  medical  graduate  affirms  :  '*  The 
Watchword  has  carried  into  my  prayer  life  a 
thought  of  urgency  which  was  not  often  in  my 
mind  so  concretely  before.  ...  It  has  supplied 
a  concrete  aim  which  has  been  operative  in  my 
thought  when  considering  expenditure  upon  my- 
self. It  has  served  as  a  valuable  point  of  appeal  to 
others — arousing  attention,  stimulating  investiga- 
tion, stirring  prayer  and  sacrifice.  It  has  united 
me  to  many  —  known  and  unknown  —  holding 
the  same  ideal,  and  has  thus  brought  me  all  the 
inspiration  peculiar  to  a  unity  of  purpose  with 
many  others.  It  has  supplied  a  principle  which 
has  been  a  test  of  a  very  definite  kind  to  my  pur- 
pose, practices  and  aims.^' 

It  is  hoped  that  missionary  societies  and  other 
Christian  organizations  may  accept  the  "Watchword, 
not  only  as  expressive  of  the  duty  of  the  Christians 
of  the  present  generation,  but  also  as  one  of  their 
points  of  missionary  policy.  In  the  last  analysis, 
however,  the  "Watchword  must  be  made  the  watch- 
word of  individual  Christians,  if  it  is  to  be  realized. 
The  Watchword  must  be  regarded  and  treated  by 
each  Christian  as  though  he  were  the  only  one  to 
whom  it  had  come.  It  belongs  to  each  one  to  give 
himself  to  the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  his 
day  with  such  energy  and  faith  that,  if  a  sufficient 
204 


AS  A  WATCHWORD 

number  of  Christians  conld  be  induced  to  do  like- 
wise, the  task  would  be  achieved.  No  one  should 
wait  for  the  whole  Church,  or,  indeed  for  any 
others,  to  realize  their  obligation  and  attempt  to 
discharge  it ;  but  if  he  feels  the  pressure  of  the 
facts  and  recognizes  the  hand  of  God  in  this 
enterprise,  he  should  throw  himself  into  its  ac- 
complishment. Kesponsibility  is  individual,  non- 
transferable, urgent.  However  much  one  may 
hide  behind  the  attitude  and  practice  of  the  gen- 
eral body  of  Christians,  either  of  his  own  or  of 
other  generations,  at  the  judgment  seat  of  Jesus 
Christ  he  must  stand  and  be  judged  by  what  he 
himself  did  to  serve  his  own  generation. 

It  should  be  reiterated  that  responsibility  for 
the  world^s  evangelization  rests  alike  upon  all 
Christians,  and  not  merely  upon  students  or  any 
other  special  class  or  order.  Its  promotion  is  no 
more  the  duty  and  privilege  of  those  who  go  to  the 
mission  field  and  of  those  who  administer  the  work 
at  home  than  it  is  of  other  Christians. 

Each  Christian  should  be  on  his  guard  lest  he 
be  deflected  or  hindered  from  discharging  his  re- 
sponsibility to  the  unevangelized.  The  number  of 
heathen,  the  serious  combination  of  difficulties  on 
the  mission  field,  the  lethargy  and  indifference  of 
60  many  Christians,  the  lack  of  active  interest 
305 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

among  one's  own  associates,  should  not  be  allowed 
to  keep  any  Christian  from  saying,  "  I  am  debtor 
both  to  Greeks  and  to  Barbarians/'  and,  therefore, 
*'as  much  as  in  me  is,  I  am  ready  to  preach  the 
gospel/'^ 

What  is  involved  in  taking  as  one's  personal 
watchword  the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this 
generation  ?  Far  more  than  mere  intellectual 
assent  to  the  idea  and  nominal  acceptance  of  it. 
More  even  than  earnest  belief  in  it  and  strong  de- 
sire to  see  it  realized.  Knowledge,  emotion  and 
resolution  are  not  substitutes  for  action.  It  is  very 
dangerous  for  a  man  to  become  intellectually  con- 
verted to  a  great  idea  and  not  practically.  Noth- 
ing less  is  meant  than  making  the  Watchword  a 
commanding  influence  in  each  man's  life. 

There  are  several  particulars  in  which  the 
Watchword  should  govern  the  Christian.  In 
deciding  upon  his  life  work  the  Christian  must 
let  the  Watchword  have  its  true  place,  and  not  be 
afraid  to  settle  the  question  in  the  light  of  the 
opportunity  and  obligation  to  make  Christ  known 
to  all  men.  He  should  be  ambitious  to  enter 
that  particular  work  and  field  in  which  his  life 
will  count  most  for  the  world's  evangelization. 
This  decision,  made  conscientiously  and  fearlessly, 
»  Rom.  i.  14, 16. 
306 


AS  A  WATCHWORD 

will  result  in  not  a  few  going  out  to  nnevangelized 
lands  as  ambassadors  for  Christ.  Others  will  be 
led  to  work  in  Christian  countries  as  ministers  and 
laymen,  but  for  the  same  purpose — to  give  all 
mankind  the  opportunity  to  know  Christ.  The 
vital  matter  is  that  a  man  be  willing  and  anxious 
to  work  where  God  wants  him  to  work.  If  he  is 
not  willing  to  serve  Christ  everywhere  he  cannot 
serve  Him  rightly  anywhere.  The  Watchword 
should  influence  also  a  man's  preparation  for  his 
life  work.  The  fact  that  the  undertaking  is  dif- 
ficult as  well  as  extensive  and  urgent  demands 
thorough  preparation  on  the  part  of  all  who  would 
do  most  to  accomplish  it. 

The  Christian  who  has  taken  the  Watchword 
as  a  factor  in  his  life  will  make  a  study  of  the 
great  subject  of  world-wide  missions.  By  regular 
and  careful  reading  of  missionary  literature  and 
in  other  ways  he  will  seek  to  understand  all  that 
is  involved  in  the  realization  of  the  Watchword, 
and  to  ascertain  how  he  can  do  most  to  promote 
its  realization. 

The  religion  of  Christ  should  be  a  great  reality 
in  the  life  of  every  man  who  adopts  such  a  watch- 
word. How  inconsistent  and  unreal  it  would 
be  to  urge  preaching  Christ  as  the  sufficient 
Saviour  and  rightful  Lord  of  all  men  and  yet 
207 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

not  know  Him  in  personal  experience  day  by 
day  as  a  triumphant  Saviour  and  as  the  actual 
Master  of  one's  life.  There  is  no  more  direct 
or  effectual  way  to  hasten  the  evangelization  of 
the  world  than  to  give  Christ  the  absolute  right 
of  way  in  one's  own  life  and  to  be  filled  and 
energized  by  His  Spirit. 

The  Watchword  summons  the  man  who  would 
come  under  its  sway  to  a  life  of  self-sacrifice.  He 
must  give  up  personal  ease.  His  time  must  be 
economized  for  study,  prayer  and  work  on  behalf 
of  missions.  By  real  self-denial,  as  well  as  by 
thrift  and  faithful  stewardship,  he  will  make  his 
money  exert  the  maximum  of  influence  on  the 
extension  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 

Every  one  who  feels  pressed  in  spirit  by  this 
Watchword  must  also  realize  that  he  is  called 
to  a  life  of  prayer.  Like  Eliot  and  Brainerd 
and  Martyn  and  Pastor  Harms  he  must  know 
what  it  is  to  devote  long  hours  to  prayer.  A 
missionary  movement  which  would  evangelize  the 
world  in  this  generation  must  acquire  great  mo- 
mentum; and  this  can  result  only  from  more 
Christians  giving  themselves  to  the  ministry  of 
intercession. 

The  Christian  who  adopts  this  Watchword 
must  devote  himself  with  intensity  and  enthusi- 


AS  A  WATCHWORD 

asm  to  its  realization.  He  must  not  be  satisfied 
with  the  little  which  he  is  now  doing  but  only 
in  doing  all  that  he  can.  Let  him  be  profoundly 
in  earnest  or  else  take  some  other  watchword. 
Every  mighty  achievement  in  the  history  of  the 
Church  has  been  a  triumph  of  men  of  genuine 
enthusiasm.  Real  Christian  enthusiasm  is  not  a 
product  of  the  energy  of  the  flesh,  but  of  the 
Spirit  of  the  living  God.  Such  enthusiasm  is 
constant,  undiscourageable,  contagious  and  irre- 
sistible. 

If  this  Watchword  has  come  to  be  a  power 
and  inspiration  in  one's  life,  it  is  one's  duty  to 
press  it  upon  others.  One  of  the  best  ways  to 
insure  its  realization  is  to  carry  on  a  constant 
propaganda  among  Christians  for  the  express 
purpose  of  influencing  them  to  let  it  become  a 
governing  factor  in  their  lives.  If  the  Church 
is  to  be  deeply  moved  by  this  idea,  many,  both 
ministers  and  laymen,  by  public  addresses,  by 
articles  in  the  press  and  by  conversation  in  the 
circles  in  which  they  move  from  day  to  day, 
must  give  themselves  to  its  advocacy.  From 
among  them  surely  God  will  raise  up  some 
whom  He  will  use  mightily  in  rousing  the  Church 
to  go  forth  to  evangelize  the  world.  It  is  im- 
possible to  measure  what  might  be  done  by  a 
209 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

/  few  men  who,  catching  a  vision  of  the  world 
evangelized,  yield  themselves  wholly  to  God  to 
be  used  by  Him  to  realize  the  vision.  Was  it 
not  one  man,  Peter  the  Hermit,  who  stirred  all 
Christendom  to  unexampled  sacrifice  of  property 
and  life  to  rescue  the  Holy  City  from  the  Mos- 
lems ?  Did  not  God  use  Carey  alone  to  awaken 
a  sleeping  Church  and  usher  in  the  marvelous 
modern  missionary  era  ?  Was  it  not  Clarkson 
who  was  instrumental  in  quickening  the  con- 
science of  a  whole  nation  to  abolish  the  slave- 
trade?  Was  it  not  Howard  who,  also  single- 
handed  and  alone,  laid  bare  before  the  eyes  of 
the  world  the  sad  state  and  suffering  of  the 
prisoners  of  different  lands  and  brought  about 
reforms  for  the  amelioration  of  their  condition  ? 
So  to-day,  let  not  one,  or  a  few,  but  many  of 
those  in  all  lands  and  among  all  races  who  ac- 
knowledge Christ  as  King  arise  and  resolve,  at 
whatever  cost,  to  devote  their  lives  to  leading 
forward  the  hosts  of  God  to  fill  the  whole  world 
with  a  knowledge  of  Christ  in  this  generation. 


210 


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227 


l-HE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOHLD 

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m 


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Boston:  181^, 


234 


AISTALYTIOAL  INDEX 
CHAPTER  I 

BSFINITION,    OR,   WHAT   IS     MEANT    BY    THE    EVANGELIZATION 
OF   THE   WORLD   IN   THIS    GENERATION 

L  Introductory  statement  regarding  the  growing  belief  in 
the  idea — the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  gen- 
eration, 1,  2. 

11.  Its  meaning— stated  positively,  3-7. 

1.  General  definition,  3. 

2.  The  idea  is  involved  in  the  missionary  commission  of 

Christ,  3,  4. 

3.  The  Gospel  which  is  to  be  preached,  4. 

4.  By  what  means  and  in  what  manner  the  Gospel  is  to 

be  made  known,  4-6. 
6.  When  the  world  should  be  evangelized,  6,  7. 

III.  Its  meaning — stated  negatively,  7-16. 

1.  It  does  not  mean  the  conversion  of  the  world  in  this 

generation,  7. 

2.  Does    not  imply  the  superficial  preaching  of  the 

Gospel,  8. 

3.  Does  not  signify  the  Christianization  of  the  world,  9. 

4.  Does  not  involve  the  support  of  any  special  theory 

of  eschatology,  9. 

5.  Is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  prophecy,  9,  10. 

6.  Does  not  minimize  but  rather  emphasizes  the  impor- 

tance of  the  regular  methods  of  missionary  work, 
10-15. 

(1)  General    statement   of  vital   interdependence  of 

the  chief  methods  of  missionary  work,  10,  11. 

(2)  Relation  of  educational  missionary  work  to  the 

evangelization  of  the  world,  11-13. 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOKLD 

(3)  Relation  of  literary  missionary  work  to  the  evan- 

gelization of  the  world,  13. 

(4)  Relation    of    medical   missionary   work    to    the 

evangelization  of  the  world,  13,  14. 

(5)  Pre-eminence  of  direct  evangelistic  work,  14,  15. 
7.  Is  not  to  be  regarded  as  an  end  in  itself,  16,  16. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   OBLIGATION   TO   EVANGELIZE  THE  WORLD 

I.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  evangelize  the  world 
because  all  men  need  the  Gospel,  17-19. 
1.  General  statement  about  the  spiritual  need  of  the 
world,  17. 

3.  Non-Christian  religions  are  inadequate,  18. 

8.  The  Scriptures  teach  that  men  need  Christ,  18,  19. 

4.  If  men  in  Christian  lands  need  Christ,  men  in  non- 

Christian  lands  likewise  need  Him,  19. 
II.  Because  those  who  have  the  Gospel  owe  it  to  all  men, 
19-24. 

1.  Christians  are  trustees  of  the  Gospel,  19,  20. 

2.  If  Christians  do  not  preach  Christ  where  He  is  not 

known,  no  one  else  will,  20,  21. 

3.  The  teachings  and  example  of  Christ  impel  His  fol- 

lowers to  evangelize  the  world,  21. 

4.  The  last  command  of  Christ  is  the  chief  ground  of 

obligation,  22-24. 

(1)  This  command  intended  for  all   Christians  and 

for  the  Christians  of  all  ages,  22,  23. 

(2)  Advantages  of  Christ's  command  as  a  motive 

power,  23,  24. 
TTT,  Because  to  evangelize  the  world  is  essential  to  the  best 
life  of  the  Christian  Church,  24-26. 

1.  Effect  of  the  sin  of  disobedience,  24,  25. 

2.  Reflex  influence  of  missionary  work  on  the  home 

Church,  25,  26. 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX 

IV.  The  urgency  of  the  obligation  to  evangelize  the  world, 
26-29. 

1.  The  Christians  of  this  generation  must  make  Christ 

known  to  the   unevangelized  of  this   generation, 
26,  27. 

2.  The  present  generation  is  one  of  unexampled  crisia, 

27. 

3.  This  generation  is  one  of  unusual  opportunity,  27,  28. 

4.  The  forces  of  evil  are  not  deferring  their  work,  28. 


CHAPTER  III 

DIFFICULTIES   IN  THE   WAY   OF   EVANGELIZING   THE  WOELD 

I.  Difficulties  on  the  mission  field,  30-42. 
1.  External  to  the  Church,  30-38. 

(1)  Difficulties  incident  to  the  number  and  distri- 

bution of  the  unevangelized  population  of  the 
world,  30,  31. 

(2)  Political,  31,  32. 

(3)  Social,  32-34. 

(a)  Bad  example  set  by  godless  foreigners,  32,  33. 

(b)  Race  pride  and  prejudice,  33. 

(c)  Low  position  of  woman,  33. 

(d)  Tyranny  of  custom,  33,  34. 

(e)  Caste,  34. 

(4)  Intellectual,  34,  35. 
(6)  Linguistic,  35,  36. 

(6)  Religious  and  moral,  36-38. 

(a)  Extent  and  antiquity  of  the  non-Chriatian 

religions,  36. 

(b)  Opposing  power  of  non-Christian  religions, 

36. 

(c)  Lack  of  confidence  in  all  religions  on  the 

part  of  many,  36,  37. 

(d)  Want  of  sense  of  sin,  37, 

(e)  The  fact  of  sin,  38. 

237 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WOKLD 

2.  Within  the  Church,  38-42. 

(1)  Of  the  native  Christians,  38-40. 

(a)  Their  poverty,  38. 

(b)  Low  state  of  spiritual  life,  38,  39. 

(c)  Lack  of  independence  and  aggressiveness,  39. 

(d)  Need  of  more  leaders,  39,  40. 

(2)  Of  the  missionaries,  40-42. 

(a)  Physical  difficulties,  40. 

(b)  Social,  40. 

(c)  Linguistic,  40-42. 

(d)  Spiritual,  42. 

II.  Difficulties  within  the  Church  on  the  home  field,  42-44. 

1.  Misconceptions  and  scepticism  among  Christiana  as 

to  the  necessity  and  obligation  to  evangelize  the 
world,  42,  43. 

2.  Want  of  unity  among  Christians,  43,  44. 

3.  Increasing  wordliness  in  the  Church,  44. 

4.  Need  of  missionary  pastors,  44. 

III.  Some  considerations  suggested  by  the  difficulties,  45-50. 

1.  All  the  difficulties  given  do  not  apply  to  any  one 

field,  45. 

2.  They  cannot  be  ignored,  45. 

3.  None  of  them  are  insuperable.     Illustrations  showing 

how  great  difficulties  have  been  removed,  45-49. 

4.  The  greatest  hindrances  are  within  the  Church,  49. 

5.  Tendency  to  magnify  the  difficulties,  49,  50. 

6.  Difficulties  are  not  without  their  advantages,  50. 

CHAPTER  IV  " 

THE  POSSIBILITT  OF  EVANGELIZING  THE  WORLD  IN  THIS 
GENERATION  IN  VIEW  OF  THE  ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  THE 
FIRST   GENERATION    OF   CHRISTIANS 

I.  Ijitroductory  statement  regarding  the  evangelistic  zeal 
of  the  first  generation  of  Christians,  length  of  the 
first  Christian  generation,  and  principal  sources  of 
information  concerning  the  early  Christians,  51,  52. 
238 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX 

II,  Field  ia  which  the  early  Christians  worked,  52,  53. 

1.  Extent,  52. 

2.  Social,  moral  and  religious  condition,  52,  53. 

VJ.  Circutt stances  which  favored  the  wide  and  rapid  proc- 
lamr.*ion  of  the  Gospel  in  the  first  Christian  genera- 
tion, 53-55. 

IV.  Evangelistic  achievements  of  the  Christians  of  the 
Apostolic  Age,  55-65. 

1.  Great  extent  of  territory  touched  by  them,  55-58. 

2.  Numerical  results  of  their  preaching,  58-61. 

3.  Various  classes  of  society  influenced  by  them,  61-63. 

4.  The  persecutions  of  Christians  in  the  first  century 

bear  testimony  to  the  rapid  spread  of  Christianity 
in  the  first  generation,  63,  64. 
^.  Facts   about  the  Christians  of  the  second  century 
which  indicate  the  great  evangelistic  activity  of  the 
early  Christians,  64,  65. 

V.  Diflaculties  encountered  by  the  Christians  of  the  first 
generation,  65-67. 

VI.  Secret  of  the  evangelistic  achievements  of  the  early 
Christians,  67-75. 

1.  The  leaders  of  the  Church  aimed  to  get  the  Gos- 

pel preached  as  widely  as  possible  in  their  day, 
67,  68. 

2.  All  classes  of  Christians  recognized  their  responsi- 

bility to  extend  Christ's  Kingdom,  68,  69. 

3.  The  early  Christians  preached  the  Gospel  at  all  op- 

portunities, 69,  70. 

4.  They  kept  pressing  into  the  unevangelized  regions, 

70. 

5.  The  leaders  centered  their  energies  on  the   great 

cities,  70-72. 

6.  Results  of  evangelistic  work  were  conserved,  72,  73. 

7.  The  Apostolic  Church  committed  the  work  of  ex- 

tending Christ's  Kingdom  to  men  of  strong  quali- 
fications, 73,  74, 

239 


THE  EVANGELIZATION   OF  THE  WORLD 

8.  Prayer  had  a  prominent  place  in  the  early  Church, 

74. 

9.  The  Spirit    of    God  guided  and    empowered    the 

workers,  74,  76. 

VII.  Significance  of  the  achievements  of  the  Christians  of 
the  first  generation  to  the  Christians  of  to-day,  75-78. 
^   1.  Should  stimulate  faith  and  afford  guidance,  75. 
2.  When  the  favoring  circumstances  of  the  two  periods 
are  considered  the  balance  of  advantage  seems  to 
be  with  the  present  generation,  75-77. 
8.  Achievements  of  the  early  Christians  due  chiefly  to 
their  equipment  and  their  conception  of  the  work, 
and  in  these    and    other  essential  respects  the 
Christians  of  to-day  may  be  like  them,  77,  78. 

CHAPTER  V 

IHB  POSSIBILITY  OP  EVANGELIZING  THE  WORLD  IN  THIS 
GENERATION  IN  VIEW  OF  SOME  MODERN  MISSIONARY 
ACHIEVEMENTS 

L  General  account  of  the  work  in  Manchuria  of  the  Irish 
Presbyterians  and  the  United  Presbyterians  of  Scot- 
land, 79-85. 

1.  Field,  79,  80. 

2.  Beginning  of  missionary  work  and  growth  of  the 

force,  80. 

3.  Difficulties  encountered,  80,  81. 

4.  Evangelistic  achievements,  81-83. 
6.  Means  employed,  83-85. 

II.  General  account  of  the  Uganda  Mission  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  85-93. 

1.  Field,  86. 

2.  Origin  of  the  mission,  86. 

8.  Obstacles  and  opposition  met,  86-88. 

4.  Evangelistic  achievements,  88-90. 

5.  Secret  of  success,  90-93. 

240 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX 

III.  Some  examples  of  educational  missionary  work,  93-96. 

1.  Presbyterian  College  at  Teng-chou  Fu,  China,  93,  94. 

2.  Work  of  Miss  Agnew  in  the  Girls'  Boarding  School 

of  the  American  Board  at  Oodooville,  Ceylon,  94, 
95. 

3.  Reference  to  other  striking  examples,  95,  96. 

IV.  The  Moravian  Church  as  an  object  lesson  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  missionary  life  of  the  home 
Church,  96-98. 

V.  Outline  statement  of  other  striking  examples  of  evan- 
gelistic achievement  in  connection  with  different 
forms  of  missionary  work,  98-102. 

VL  General  inference  drawn  from  the  foregoing  facts,  102, 
103. 

CHAPTER  VI 

THB  POSSIBILITY  OP  EVANGELIZING  THE  WORLD  IN 
THIS  GENERATION  IN  VIEW  OP  THE  OPPORTUNITIES, 
FACILITIES  AND  RESOURCES  OP  THE  CHURCH 

I.  Introductory  statement,  104,  105. 

II.  Opportunities  of  the  Church,  105-107. 

1.  The  whole  world  is  practically  open  to  the  Church, 

105,  106. 

2.  The  heathen  are  capable  of  understanding  the  Gospel, 

106,  107. 

III.  Facilities  at  the  disposal  of  the  Church,  107-116. 

1.  Geographical  societies,  107,  108. 

2.  Knowledge  of  all  races,  108,  109. 

3.  Improved  means  of  communication,  109-113. 

(1)  Railways,  109,  110. 

(2)  Steamship  service,  110,  111. 

(3)  Cable  and  telegraph  systems,  111,  112. 

(4)  News  agencies,  112. 

(5)  Universal  Postal  Union,  112. 

241 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF   THE   WOELD 

4.  Printing  press,  113--115. 

5.  Christian  governments,  115. 

6.  Medical  knowledge  and  skill,  115,  116. 

7.  Methods  and  results  of  science  and  of  other  branches 

of  Western  learning,  116. 

rV.  Resources  of  the  Church,  116-130. 

1.  Membership,  116,  117. 

2.  Money  power,  117-120. 

3.  Missionary  societies  and  their  agents,  120,  121. 

4.  Bible  societies  and  their  work,  122-124. 
6.  Religious  press,  124. 

6.  Christian  colleges,  124. 

7.  Christian  student  movements,  124-127. 

8.  Christian  movements  among  young  people,  127. 

9.  Sunday  schools,  128. 

10.  Native  Church,  128,  129. 

(1)  Number  and  character  of  members,  128, 
.      (2)  Number  of  workers,  128,  129. 

(3)  Number  of  pupils  and  students  in  schools  aJid 

colleges,  129. 

(4)  The  student  movement,  129. 

11.  Divine  resources,  129,  130. 

V.  Significance  of  these  opportunities,  facilities  and  re- 
sources, 130,  131. 


CHAPTER  Vn 

THE  POSSIBILITY  OF  EVANGELIZING  THE  "WORLD  WITHIN 
A  GENERATION  AS  VIEWED  BY  LEADERS  IN  THE 
CHURCH 

This  chapter  is  composed  of  quotations  bearing  on  the  sub- 
ject taken  from  published  or  written  statements  of  mission- 
aries, bishops,  ministers,  presidents  and  professors  of  col- 
leges, editors,  secretaries  of  missionary  societies  and  other 
Christian  leaders. 

242 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX 
CHAPTER  VIII 

FACTORS    ESSENTIAL    TO    THE    EVANGELIZATION    OF    THE 
WORLD  IN  THIS  GENERATION 

1  Factors  on  the  mission  field,  160-179. 
1.  More  missionaries  necessary,  160-166. 

(1)  For  what  work,  160-162. 

(2)  Where  needed,  162. 

(3)  How  many,  162. 

(4)  The  Church  able  to  furnish  them,  163,  164. 

(5)  Thoroughly  qualified  missionaries  needed,  164- 

166. 

(a)  Necessity  of  having  highly  qualified  mission- 

aries, 164,  165. 

(b)  Vital  importance  of  the  spiritual  qualifica- 

tions, 165,  166. 

5.  Great  increase  in  the  number  of  well-qualified  na- 

tive workers,  167-172. 

(1)  Large  numbers  will  be  needed,  167. 

(2)  Advantages  which  they  possess,  167,  168. 

(3)  Success  achieved  by  them,  168,  169. 

(4)  Enlisting  and  training  them,  170-172. 

(a)  Value  of  educational  missionary  work,  170, 

171. 

(b)  Student  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 

171,  172. 
8.  Great  increase  in  voluntary  Christian  work  by  the 

rank  and  file  of  the  native  Church,  172-175. 
4.  Enlargement  of  work  for  children,  175,  176. 

6.  Promotion  of  the  spirit  and  practice  of  comity  and 

co-operation,  176-178. 

(1)  Advantages,  176,  177. 

(2)  Ways  in  which  various  missions  may  co-operate, 

177,  178. 
6.  The  leaders  must  recognize  the  evangelization  of  the 
world  in  this  generation  as  something  not  only  to 
be  desired  but  also  to  be  accomplished,  178,  179. 
243 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD 

II.  Factors  on  the  home  field,  179-195. 

1.  Missionary  churches,  179-190. 

(1)  Must  be  intelligent  regarding  missions,  180,  181. 

(2)  Must  be  self-sacrificing  churches,  182-187. 

(a)  The  members  should  recognize  their  respon- 

sibility as  Christian  stewards,  182, 

(b)  Need  of  greater  vigilance  and  conscientious- 

ness in  the  matter  of  expenditures,   182, 
183. 

(c)  Need  of  more  self-denial,  183,  184. 

(d)  The  call  to  self-denial  and  liberality  comes 

to  all  Christians,  184,  185. 

(e)  Special  opportunity  of  the  rich,  185-187. 

(f)  Co  operation  of  the  poor  and  those  of  mod- 

erate means  also  essential,  187. 

(3)  Must  be  praying  churches,  187-190. 

(a)  Everything    vital     to    missions     hinges    on 

prayer,  187-189. 

(b)  Means   of  promoting  prayer  among   Chris- 

tians, 189,  190. 

2.  The  leaders  of  the  Church  must  regard  the  evangel- 

ization of  the  world  in  this  generation  as  a  pri- 
mary  obligation   and    devote    themselves    to   its 
accomplishment,  190,  191. 
8.  Missionary  pastors,  191-194. 

(1)  Key  position  held  by  the  pastor,  191,  192. 

(2)  Methods  employed  by  the  missionary  pastor,  192, 

193. 

(3)  Necessity  of  giving  the  subject  of  missions  larger 

attention  in  the  theological  seminaries,  193, 
194. 
4.  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  194,  196. 


244 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX 
CHAPTER  IX 

THE  EVANGELIZATION    OF    THE   WORLD    IN    THIS    GENER- 
ATION AS  A  WATCHWORD 

I.  Origin  of  the  use  as  a  watchword  of  the  phrase,  the 
evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  generation,  196- 
198. 

1.  In  America,  196,  197. 

2.  In  Great  Britain,  197,  198. 

II.  What  was  intended  by  the  leaders  of  the  Student  Vol- 
unteer Movement  when  they  officially  adopted  the 
Watchword,  198. 

III.  Advantages  of  its  wording,  198,  199. 

IV.  Its  value,  199-204. 

1.  To  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  199,  200. 

2.  To  individual  Christians.     Testimonies,  200-204. 

V.  If  the  Watchword  is  to  be  realized,  it  must  be  adopted 
by  individual  Christians,  204-206. 

1.  Its  adoption  by  organizations  not  sufficient,  204. 

2.  The  responsibility  of  each  Christian,  204,  205. 

3.  Nothing  should  prevent  one  from  discharging  his 

responsibility,  205,  206. 

VI.  What  is  involved  in  the  personal  adoption  of  the  Watch- 
word, 206-210. 

1.  It  helps  one  in  determining  his  life-work  and  in  mak- 

ing his  preparation,  206,  207. 

2.  Necessitates  the  study  of  missions,  207. 

3.  Calls  for  reality  in  Christian  experience,  207,  208. 

4.  Summons  to  a  life  of  self-denial,  208, 
6.  Involves  a  life  of  prayer,  208. 

6.  Means  a  life  of  intensity  and  activity  to  promote  the 

realization  of  the  Watchword,  208,  209. 

7.  Requires  that  a  man  press  the  Watchword  upon 

others,  209,  210. 


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